THE NOBEL PRIZES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21196, 29 November 1930, Page 12

THE NOBEL PRIZES.

It- is impossible not to be impressed ■with tbe high ideals that prompted Alfred Nobel, the famous manufacturer of explosives, to bequeath'the greater part of his huge fortune for such praiseworthy purposes as were selected by him, these including the foundation of the Nobel Prizes. These prizes, each of a value of several thousand pounds, are five in number, and are awarded annually for eminence in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature' and service to the cause of international peace. The prizes are awarded on' merit alone, without respect to nationality or sex. Recently the physios prize for this year was awarded to Sir 0. Venkata Raman, an Indian, for distinguished work on light diffusa This morning it is announced that the peace prize for the year has been awarded to Mr P. B. Kellogg, of the United States, the author of the pact under which the subscribing nations renounce war as an instrument of public policy. Alfred Nobel is a remarkable example of what we term a “ self-educated ” man. He had neither university education nor even ordinary schooling, and in his early days he could scarcely decide whether to follow in his father’s footsteps or to become a poet. As a-young man be assisted bis father with research work on submarine mines and in tbe manufacture of explosives, to which the greater part of his life was finally devoted. In 1866 ho invented dynamite—a discovery which was destined to have far-reaching effects. It must be understood that tbe invention of dynamite was -not designed for purposes of warfare, but entirely for use in the industries of peace. The significance which his ■invention came to possess in relation to war bad tbe profoundest effect upon him. No man could be more ardent in the cause of peace. It may seem incongruous that a manufacturer of explosives , should devote his skill to the invention of still more powerful gases and yet be an earnest, even passionate, opponent of war. The reasons are, however, not far to seek. A man of science is concerned primarily with the scientific viewpoint. He is not prepared to sacrifice his pursuit on the chance that people and nations may misuse the product of his brain. Further, he realises that if he does not carry' on his researches or disclose his inventions, other inventors will soon take his place. 1 Nobel had tbe financial sense that enabled him to exploit his inventions. Perhaps it was to ease his conscience that he said: “ The day when two Army Corps will be able to destroy each other in one , second, all civilised nations will recoil from war in horror

and disband their armies ” The day when the wholesale destruction not only of armies but of peoples through the use of gases is possible, in the event of war, is not so far distant as not to be of direct personal interest to living communities. Forty years ago Nobel - foreshadowed the League of Nations. He wondered why the rules governing a dispute between individuals should not be applied, to a quarrel between nations in such a way that a preliminary inquiry should be mad© to determine whether the quarrel was justified. He further suggested that, before nations went to war, there should be a period of one year to afford them time for deliberate reflection upon the issues between them, an(l of course it could only be through the-co-operation of nations that a principle of this kind could be applied. Throughout his life Nobel’s idealistic tendencies, firmly modelled on those of the poet Shelley, always governed his .practice. The terms of his will surely showed that; and his knowledge of the Russian, French, English and German languages most certainly increased the breadth of his vision. It is of more than passing interest to note that in 1926 the Peace Prize was shared by Herr Stresemann, Foreign. Minister of Germany, and M. Briand, the French Foreign Minister,' —k fitting recognition of the fact that to these ■ statesmen the conception of the Locarno Pact was due. Such wellknown figures as Sir Austen Chamberlain, General Dawes, Rudyard Kipling, Sigrid Undset, Shaw, Tagore, Rutherford, Teats and Einstein have been honoured with Nobel Prizes. Mr Bernard Shaw, it may be recalled, returned the compliment by devoting the whole of his prize to the founding of a society for translating the best Scandinavian works . into English—works which have long been considered classics on the Continent, but the British public is only now reading. Alfred Nobel was a great man, a poet at heart, and a man on whose min'd the possibility that dire consequences might accrue from his' inventions weighed heavily.

BANKS AND THE DEPRESSION. In timeq like the present, when the v clouds of depression hang heavily over most countries in the world,* shallow thinkers propound the opinion that banking institutions may, if those in control of them so decide, cure, or at least materially alleviate, the economic ills by the exercise of some magic, power that will create a flood of money, increase credit, stimulate trade and thus reduce, unemployment. To entertain this belief is to misapprehend the function of banking and to suggest remedies that might aggravate rather than mitigate the disease. The speech delivered yesterday by Mr Thomas Buckland from the chair , at the annual meeting of the Bank of New South Wales —a speech nf which the text is published in this" issue—presents a view of the situation, particularly as it affects Australia, .that, unpalatable though it may be in some quarters, will commend itself to reasoning people as 'sagacious as well as distinctly timely. Among-the reasons which have produced what Mr Buckland describes as “the anomalous position of credit” in the dominions he specially mentions “the'unsound schemes of public finance” that have attracted favour and the persistence' with which Governments are leaning upon the banks to finance policies and commitments that have already contributed in a marked degree to the severity of the recession that is being experienced. Moreover, funds which should have been held in readiness to aid in the revival of enterprise at the opportune moment have been, and are being, expended on relief works and in the payment of the salaries and wages of establishments built up on boom-tide activities in order to support a standard of living and an internal price-level that cannot be long sustained by the earning power of the taxpayer. This is a strong indictment, but it is difficult, in the light of existing conditions, to hold that it is framed on lines that are devoid of economic foundation. -Mr Buckland holds that, without an immediate and substantial reduction of the costs of production, prosperity- and the sources of public revenue* cannot be restored. In expressing, tins opinion he gives authoritative support to views that have lately been publicly uttered in this Dominion. In the meantime, a heavy responsibility is being shouldered by the banks. The Bank of New South Wales, reaping the benefit of its policy of the past in building up reserves to an imposing extent, is 1 fortunately in a position which enables it to render effective aid to customers pending such time as will reveal the'turning of the tide. New Zealand has, Mr Buckland claims, shared proportionately with Australia in the assistance afforded by the bank. The gazetted returns in this country prove the justice of this claim. For the quarter ended in September. 30 last, the advances by the Bank of New South Wales were running at about £6,600,000 in New Zealand while the average total deposits with the bank in the Dominion were some £6,300,000 in the same period. Moreover, the returns showed that, in comparison with the corresponding quarter of the preceding year, the advances by the bank increased by £701,000 although a decrease in the deposits was recorded. It cannot be expected that the banks, as commercial institutions, which must protect the interests of both their shareholders and their depositors, shall incur undue risks, but the returns of their transactions in New Zealand suggest that they are pursuing a reasonable as well as cautious policy. After all, the individual must, in the homely expression, cut his coat according to his‘ cloth and discipline himself, in the presence of untoward conditions, to the exercise of all necessary economies until the time arrives when the clouds will lift, as they surely will. The immediate outlook is not encouraging, *but it is not so utterly depressing as to banish the hope that, given the sanity and sobriety upon the importance of which Sir Otto Niemeyer recently insisted, a return of prosperity may be anticipated in the possibly not distant future*

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF. The Unemployment Board has found it necessary to remove any misappre* heqsion that might be due to the terms in which it announced its offer of subsidies to local authorities upon[ expenditure incurred' in providing work for married unemployed men in the months of December and January. That ’offer was to provide an amount up to £.25,000 to city councils, borough councils, county councils, town boards, drainage boards, river boards, education boards, school committees, and hospital boards in a subsidy l of £2 for £1 expended on certain’terms, and conditions as to the character of the work to be undertaken.' It now appears that the sum of £25,000 is the aggregate amount that is to be allowed by way of subsidy throughout the whole Dominion. It is to be feared that the limitation that is thus placed on the amount of the-grant will have the effect of causing many local authorities to’ question seriously the advisability of applying for a subsidy. There are some 120 boroughs, including eight cities, in the Dominion, and there are over 100 comities, to say nothing of the other local bodies to which .the offer on the part of the Unemployment Board is extended. This-means that, if any general desire is evinced by local authorities to . take advantage of the offer, the average amount available for each will be pitiably small and that nearly the whole of the' cost of any work of any consequence that is undertaken will have to be borne by the local ■ authority itself. However advantageous the offer may be to small municipalities, the’ larger centres may be disposed to hesitate to undertake any work of sufficient magnitude to be of real benefit in the .relief of unemployment in their-midst if they have no expectation 1 of receiving more-than a. few hundred pounds by way of subsidy from the Board.

Mcbotb H. L. Tapley and Go. have secured the contract from the Government " r *h® BU PPIy of Samoan bananas to the Dominion, There will,'however be two inore shipments of Samoan bananas under tbo existing contract before Messrs Tapley and Co. take over. -

. The postal authorities advise that the steamer Maunganui, which is due 1 at Wellington on Monday from Sydney, is bringing 20 bags of Australian mail and 18 parcel receptacles for Dunedin.: The mail is expected to reach the local Poet Office on Tuesday afternoon and the parcel portion on

Reporte from Central Otago state that two hard frosts were' experienced there last week. In Alexandra from 12 degrees tq 14 degrees-of frost were registered, and considerable damage was done to the tomato plants. So far as the stone fruits are concerned’ it is too early yet to say to what extent they have been affected. It is considered, however, that they will be damaged to a certain and that there will .be cracking in the skins of some of the apricot crops. The snow is now off. the hills, and the weather is beginning to get warmer, go it is not considered that there .will be any further frosts of any moment. Many of . the orchardists •in the Alexandra district a r e using smoke pete in order, to combat the effects.-of frosts, and they were - kept busy during the week. What success met their efforts has yet to be seen. \

At the sitting of the War Pensions Appeal. Board, 'which haajust been concluded in Dunedin, 33 cases were dealt with, . 17 applications being upheld by the board, 13 dismissed, and three deferred. Of .the 17 cases which were sponsored byJbe secretary of the Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association (Mr J, M. White) 13 were upheld; three dismissed, and one deferred.’ This is the largest number of cases dealt with at; one sitting of the board for soma yearn. l '

Each year the New Zealand Returned Soldiers’ Association sends a wreath to be placed on-the London Cenotaph on Anzao Day and on Armistice Day. The wreaths are made of: choice native flora collected in various parts of -the Dominion by branches of the association. The Dunedin branch always relies on Mr ,D. Tannock, superintendent of reserves, to secure specimens of whatever native flora are in flower at the., time. The wreath for-next Anzac Day is now being prepared, and will shortly be sent on its long journey' to England.

While times are admittedly bard and one hears frequent prophecies of worse to come, the experience of the Dunedin Savings Bank for- the seven months from April 1 to October 31 shows that depositors are not suffering as severely as might expected, ’and tfiat borrowers are meeting their obligations promptly. Mr Janies Quaile, the manager of the bank, informed a Daily Times reporter yesterday that during the period mentioned 2879 new accounts had been opened, and that, although withdrawals had been .fairly heavy, deposits had exceeded them to’a considerable extent. In spile of all one heard of depression, borrowers had made- their payments with:'the - greatest promptitude, and the amount of arrears .was negligible.

The trip of three days from Sydney'to Wellington which wag provided for in the' time-table mapped, out for the Malolo’s Pacific cruise has raised the question of transtasrUan. records (says a Press Association telegram from Wellington). The’ Malolo makes adherence to . her schedule the first consideration, and although' it. is quite possible she .could have put up. even faster time if she had been pushed, it was only necessary, in. accordance with her arrangements, for her to reach Wellington, at 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon to be on time, thus breaking the record by two hours. Had 1 the Malolo been delayed for some reason at Sydney, it would have been interesting to have seen what would have been the result of her effort to pick up the lost time on the way across. As it -was, she left Sydney at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and, allowing for , the two hours’ difference between Eastern-. Australian and New Zealand time, it was necessary for her to arrive inside the Heads before 6 o’clock last evening to lower the record for the trip, which has stood to the Maheno’s credit since 1906. However, .she was in the stream at 3 o’clock. The previous record was held by the Maheno, which did the trip'between Sydney and Wellington. (1238 miles) in two days and 23 hours.

Yesterday, the closing day of the Otago Art Society’s exhibition in the Pioneers Hall, drew large attendances of the public, who took advantage of the opportunity to view for the last time the display of paintings. The interest of those present was more than that of mere sightseers as a number of sales was reported of the works on exhibition, the pictures purchased being as follows:—" Low Tide. Waitati,” by P. MTntyre; “Lawyer’s Head, by J. B. Hope; "Pansies,” by Margaret J. Gairdner; "The Canal,” bv F £ ascir; " The Clearing After Rain," The Ever Restless Sea,” and “ A Ray of Light,” by W. A. Bollard. The manner, in which the exhibition has been attended has thoroughly justified the faith of the society, and it is not too much to say that numbers of people have gained a new appreciation of the beauty to which the brush gives birth as the result of the display in the Pioneers Hall. All those connected _ with the organisation hare worked faithfully and well, and the thunks not- only of the society, but also of tbs public as a whole are doe to them lor Sbeir gattping ■