PASSING EVENTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4407, 13 July 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

PASSING EVENTS.

'(From the "New Zealand Mail.”) History is philosophy teaching by examples. —Thucydides. Mr Soddou’s advocacy of an Imperial Council to give diplomatic and commercial attention to affairs in Africa and the Far East, and_ to draw up a plan for a preferential tariff, is attracting some attention in influential circles in Great Britain. Our cablegrams this week inform us that the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, when speaking at the Hotel Cecil, London, at a banquet to celebrate "Dominion Day,” declared that if the colonies desired to assist with counsel and advice as well as with arms there would bo nothing that the British would more readily welcome. The London “Times” has also directed attention to Mr Seddon’s proposals, and is urging their consideration by the British Cabinet. It has been discovered that distance and the growth of new interests are not sundering influences, and as the Secretary of State for the Colonies has asserted, "the world has never seen anything more striking than the devotion and spontaneous eagerness of brothers across the sea in responding to the Empire’s need." There are indications that a movement for closer connection is making progress. It was not wholly out of Mr Seddon’s mind when h& spoke of establishing a line of steamers between this colony, Australia and South Africa. Although such a project is not on all fours with the institution of an Imperial Council, yet it is calculated to bring these parts of the Empire into closer trade relations, and that is quite in unison with the greater ideal to wnich practical effect will be given at an earlier date than is commonly anticipated. Wo have reason to_ believe that ttve project is already taking form and shape, and that in a little while an announcement will bo made calling upon the Governments of all the self-governing parts of the Empire to send representatives to an Imperial Council in London. Tho war has given an impulse to this proposal, and the influence of colonial opinion upon the affairs of the Empire has gathered in momentum. The demonstrations of a community of thought and sentiment, which existg throughout his Majesty’s dominions, have convinced the British Government that while there need be no immediate alterations in the formal relations between Great Britain and her self-governing colonies, there must ultimately he some change in the representation of the outlying portions of the Empire. Agentg-General have served their day and generation. A commercial representative of the colony may still be necessary, but the time is not now far distant when this colony will he represented in a I political sense on an Imperial Council, at which all matters pertaining to tho colonies and their relations to the Empire may bo discussed and determined. It is within the ranee of probability that the Right Hon. _R. J.Seddon shall be the first representative to the proposed Council, and no more fitting tribute could be paid to a statesman who has done so much, to promote the unity of the Empire. i

Messrs Lanrenson and O’Meara have directed attention to the declining birth-rate of New Zealand. As was pointed out in these columns not long ago, this country does not stand alone as regards a falling off in birth force. Nearly every civilised country'exhibits the same tendency. Various remedies have been proposed, but where prizes for large families have been offered, or the taxation of bachelors beyond a certain age and, of spinsters who refuse offers of marriage been instituted, the results have not been satisfactory. The spirit of the times is against large families. Society women rebel against maternity, and while statesmen and politicians may deplore that condition of a country wherein the marriage rate increases and the birth rate decreases, they are practically helpless to inspire women with a glorified sense of the highest duty of their existence. Th© dominant objection to large families finds expression in the fear that the parents will bo unable to adequately bring up the one or two, or two or three, children they have. In the interests of the country, and with a view to removing such fears, Mr O’Meara makes a suggestion. He proposes that paterfamilias should be given a sum of money and an area of land when six or more children were born to the family. In Malthus’s time pauperism and the other evils from which society suffers were ascribed to the excessive growth of population. If gr .nts of land were made to heads of large families in trust for their children the fears of the Malthugians would be groundless, and parents should have uo misgivings with respect to the future material well-being of their children. Under proper restrictions and well-defined regulations the suggestion, put forward by Mr O’Meara might be given effect to with advantage to this country. It is not to th e material interests of the private individual to have a largo family. Goldsmith says that he who miurriea and brings np a family gives hostages to fortune. Yet it is essential in the, interests of the State that there should he an overflowing population. The military strength and glory of a people cannot be maintained without population, and in the commercial interests of a country an increasing population is absolutely necessary. It is reasonable that if individuals make sacrifices for the rood of the State, the State should make sacrifices for the benefit of the individual. Mr O’Meara’s plan has, therefore, much to commend it.

Even if ho makes mistakes and exhibits at times much perverseness of spirit, tia senior member for Wellington is not without a amount of strong common sense. His speech on the Address-in-Reply was characteristic of Mr Hutcheson. Opposed to the Government of the day, the senior member for Wellington declared that he would vote for the motion proposed by Mr W. W. Collins and seconded by Mr T. M. Wilford, both Government supporters. In the interests of Wellington he was found denouncing the San Francisco mail service, and drawing attention to the fact that those who wished the Oceanic Company well had to proclaim it “a dismal failure.’’ But in criticising adversely the subsidising of a mail line th;-.t had been proved unworthy the confidence and further support of this country Mr Hutcheson blundered in stating that the Vancouver line would be subject to the same disabilities regarding the touching of the steamers at Honolulu, that being an American port. Here the member for Wellington erred. The

navigation laws of the United States prevent other than American steamers trading between one American port and another, but there is no objection offered to British built and owned steamers trading between a British port and an American port, so that steamers from this country to Vancouver —a British port—may call in at Honolulu on the way without suffering any disability. Next Mr Hutcheson had something to say about the Farmers’ Union, and if its poliev is as Mr Hutcheson defined it, namely, to obtain better prices for produce and regulate markets, the objections taken to the union on political grounds are exaggerated. Some of the staunchest supporters of the Government declare that too much attention has been paid recently to legislation in tho interests of dwellers in towns, and not enough to country residents. If, then, by combination the farmers throughout the country can command more attention and have their grievances remedied, no exception need be taken to the movement. Even from a political standpoint, if led by men imbued with liberal principles the union may grow in significance and power. It must have been rather amusing to hear Mr Hutcheson declaim against England in the South African war. “I believe England has’ erred,” cried the senior member for Wellington. Mr Hutcheson is entitled to his faith; but it cannot be denied that such utterances by responsible persons in Great Britain has done much to prolong a war they affect to deplore. While some will “regret” the war and regard it with as much “remorse” as the American and Crimean, the vast majority of tho British people will rejoioo that it has been the means of showing to our enemies the power and solidarity oi tho Empire.

The Premier’s speech on the Address-in-Reply motion was one of the ablest deliverances the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon has uttered since the general election. The occasion required that he should give the House s°mo indication of the Government’s policy and purpose with respect to the administrative and legislative needs of this country. In the House the Opposition has melted away like “snow 'wreaths in a thaw.” In tne country many have regarded further opposition to the Seddon administration futile, since it has given effect to every liberal project the Opposition had supported or had adversely criticised. What has encouraged many electors to place confidence m the Seddon administration lias been tbe fact that along with a progressive policy vigorously prosecuted the country has advanced from a distressful condition to one of prosperity. Throughout New Zealand there has been a general yielding to the influence of the Premier’s marvellous personality- Now the Opposition in effect have agreed not to further assail the Ministry, and whatever opposition may he engendered to the rule and government of the country by the present administration, such opposition is expected to emanate from the malcontents and disappointed men on both sides of the House. A cave of Adullamites might he formed before the session is over. Rumour has it that several Government supporters, have strong objections to the personnel of the Ministry, hut it is not supposed that any of the Government party will violate their allegiance to the Seddon administration before the next general election. If party strife has been abolished greater progress may be expected to he made with such legislation as the country requires. The House will now be more like a committee of the whole, wherein each member will have the freedom of criticising adversely the proposals of the Government without regard to party ties, and it is not anticipated that any “stonewalling” will take place. In some respects the present condition of the House is to be regretted, and the caution the Premier gave to young members to beware of the temptations to dissension that might be presented to them was well-timed. Th e Opposition has been obliterated, it has covered itself with contumely, but it can never be extinguished. _ If it has now no constitutional standing and no leader, it will show itself in many ways, and whether it develops out of the members of a defunct party or out of the discontents in the Government ranks, it is certain to assume considerable proin course of time. Meanwhile, the power* of initiative on the part of the Ministry is not exhausted. A glance at the “order paper” discloses the vitality of the Government, and although the closing periods of the Premier’s speech are fraught with designs for legislative progress, they are also indicative of that prudence which has commanded respect and confidence and averted reaction and disaster.

How to attract people to Church is one of the questions at present agitating clerical minds. It is generally admitted that church-going is not the vogue with the majority of the people of New Zealand. This is being- «eplored, and in the reports furnished annually by the committees appointed to enquire into the state of religion are to be found statements lamenting the paucity of the attendance at the “means of grace.” Some laymen affirm that the preachers are to blame. Others declare that the people are indifferent. The fact is that if one-half of the. population went to church there would not be room to contain them. Not only in this country and throughout Australia, but at Home and in America, the same disposition to neglect the “assembling of themselves together” is in evidence. In America some clergy have ceased to rely upon ordinary methods to draw people to church. One Brooklyn pastor, who is a' clever artist, packs his church every Sunday by making lightning sketches in the pulpit to illustrate the points of his sermon. It is also reported that a clergyman in a Western State has taken to singing solos in the middle of bis sermon ana reciting thrilling stories in the course of the service, and his church is being filled to overflowing. A minister in Cleveland has attached to his church free swimming baths and reading rooms, which are open day and night, while a roof garden for concerts forms one of the attractions of his tabernacle. Buf it has remained for the Rev. Charles Tyndall, of Mount Vernon, a New York suburb, to devise something still more novel. On a recent Sunday evening he preached a sermon on “Wireless Telegraphy and its Spiritual Similitudes; ” and in order to demonstrate his meaning he had a complete wireless apparatus installed in his church, with a miniature railway built round his pulpit bv which tramcars were run by wireless current. This expert electrician also sent wireless messages during the service from a transmitter in the pulpit to a receiving station at the opposite end of the church. The church

was crowded. Many failed to gain admission. Mr Tyndall appealed to the soul through the eye, and he claims that, as in wireless telegraphy, the receiver and the transmitter must be electricallv in tone, so the human mind must also be spiritually in tone to become spiritually receptive. Science can be made a powerful ally to preaching, and it is Mr Tyndall’s purpose to follow up one success with another on similar lines. These methods may not commend themselves to the clergy of this colony, but unless “some new and strange devices” are employed to draw tho people to church “vacuum," to use Dr Waddell’s phrase, “must continue to preponderate.”