THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 47

THE WEEK.

" Nanquaai almd natura, aiiud sapientia iixit."— JaYiitix. "Good uttura and i«»d tense ciii eror jom."— Pon. There appears to have been much needless mystery concerning the issue The New of the new loan. The Loan. gradual hardening of the local money market, brougnt. about by the large amounts absorbed b$ the Government and the various municipalities, has shown the impossibility of canying on the business of the colony without having recourse to London ; unless, indeed,' our whole commercial relations were to be; seriously dislocated. Yet when the firs;! cable was published announcing »tkat ;., million loan was about to be issued the.! Premier denied all knowledge of the; matter, and this, oil the lop of Sir Joseph; Ward's reQently^-e^ressed opinion that thin

'<» issue of a loan on the London market -war * not opportune, has created a feeling of unrest. It would be passing strange were the Agent-general allowed, to issue a loan on his own responsibility, and a frank explanation of the whole circumstance on the - part of the Colonial Treasurer would do much to relieve public anxiety on this point. Mr ' Seddon's optimistic opinion that the flotation is one of the most sne■s cessful loan emissions made for a number of years may or may not be borne out by actual xesults ; in any case it is too early to prophesy before he knows, and that will .not be until the tenders are opened. " -To all_ criticisms on his loan flotations Mr Keddon has always returned the stock complaint that such criticism is calculated to -endanger the credit of the colony^whereas, \n point of fact, the mystery with which he enwraps these financial operations is far ■ knore injurious in the long run than the •- West trenchant criticism possibly could be. fct stands to reason that the colony will * Jiave to pay through the nose for the money required for public- works and other expenses;, and there is nothing to be gained _by endeavouring- to disguise -the fact. Meanwhile, the obvious 'moral is, seeing it ' 'costs So- '• neh to borow money, the utmost "iare mla-f be exercised' regarding its expenditure, and the "most rigid economy Jjractised in all departments • oi- the public service. WThen presenting the charter to the branch. _; of the Liberal and Labour The • Federation at Chatta Creek, .' frsanifcaliOH Mr Seddon improved the ~ 'of Labour. occasion by enlarging on the - ' ■ nobility. of labour and th© 'necessity for union. He declared that he 'Wished to met organisation, 'vjith. organisa- * Wtoi, and.. that only by organisation, of the masses could, the interest of the people ,of . New -Zealand be preserved. And yet in another breath- he stated that there was »«f .necessity for organisation amongst the .Conservatives, their own- selfish: end's constituting a combination m itself. Mi" Seddon's logic is surely strangely- at fault, tor the prevalent note '•of the Labour party froMlay "is unadulterated selfishness. Th© "JTrades Union Congress,, which, has just Jcoßcluded- its deliberations in Leeds, has Vlireeted the attention of; thoughtful people in England anew to the aimsand ambitions ' 'of- the growing power of Labour. Heie is What -a London journal has to* say on thfe paßject, and the" words .may well be pondered In out own midst: — "There was once in England a down-troddea working class. •To-day the. down-troddea working class , exists no more. . There . is. stiE— and' of course there always will be — a, small sub- ■ )nerged section of "the community on w-hose behalf the services of tSe ph&anthropist taay usefully be employed _r 'but xfc is an open question whether at, the present time "the average artisan is not" in a betfervpdsi--±i©n relatively than the average worker of otfrer, classes. -There is a great, danger- of his becoming a specially -.favoured' class; patapered by Parliament at the expense of 'the professional class, By whom, the bulk of [the taxes of the nation are paid..- The artisan is already provided with free education by the State,, with, free medicine- by the philanthropic public- ~He has no" social position to maintain, and- few takes to pay, ond, he is specially favoured by the rail;way companies in the matter of cheap The housing problem is also being taken up by the authorities on Ibis behalf. Through ths Trade-, Unions the artisan is now quite" able to ask for anything he desires, and if his request be just, * fee is sufficiently, powerful to see that he Wets it. Under these- circumstances is it pot almost time to ask whether it is wise lor the rest of the 1 community to go out oi their way ta confer further favours upon the artisan at the expense of the taxpayer, Vmtil he is obliged to do so, or tmtil, the latter is compelled to contribute more fequally towards the; maintenance of the, Empire?" Of course what is- here written floes not altogether apply to New Zealand, x Where the lot of the working man is infinitely better than in' the OM -Land but the moral Is"' the same. Indeed^ despite, the fiowl of indignation; with his.'.Tttter- ' prices "have been received, there ia a." world jof truth Jo; the Rev, Rl , J.., Campbell's ' Article in. the- National Review, wherein, ne Asserts that "The worker, does not worlc Jor the. work's sake,.- but for the pay's sake, ,and his- .principal aim.' is to work as iittie as possible and to get' as much as possible, both, in- -money and- leisure. Hts Keenest stuuggles- are for shorter hours and fetter wages, but not that he may -employ ihem for higher ends-. He is often lazy, hnthrifty,' improvident, sometimes immoral, foul-mouthed and untruthful. Unlike the 'American worker; he v has comparatively little aspiration or dtabition^' the war between Russia and Japan has now entered upon its tenth fen Months month, for Japan broke off of War. negotiations with Russia on v Saturday, February 6 — and fet Port Arthur has not fallen. It was on February 29 that , General Stoessel issued his famous order, in. which he declared that jiis little garrison would fight to the finish, c and would' never surender ; and the defence t>f Port Arthur, However it may end, will surely go downrto posterity as one of the most gallant achievements of modern wartfare. It remains to be seen how far the capture by .the Japanese of 203 Hill will affect the Russian tenure of -the*. fortress. ilf, as is authoritatively stated, the capture of this position will enable^the ' Japanese ]gvoas to rake the harbour^aaid .thsia..render fit useless as a naval base, tkenftue Japanese ihave scored one of the most notable triumphs of the campaign. Colour; is given 10-this statement by; the expressed, deterjnmation. of the Russians to retake, the hiJ at- all hazards, and probably at the present {Time 206 is not the bios* habitable place n' the world. In ihe latftrt number of the Tortnightly Review, "Galena*" has an interesting article on "The Limits of Japanese .Capacity," an extract from which serves to explain the secret of General Stoessel s successful defence of Port Arthur: — "The -.psychological secret of Russian military ttrenffth Iks in that strange dead-jEaiokt

'..inertia of temperament which can neither be electrified nor demoralised.- Call itstupid, slavish, unwieldy ; apply to it all the opprobrious epithets you please ; prove that it is ludicrously contrary to all the : conditions of modern efficiency — but the fact "will remain, however reluctant may be the unhistorip mind of the ordinary military expert to give the illogical and objectionable thing its just value, that a Russian army upon the defensive is, under the least promising circumstances, a formidable phenomenon. In short, Russia's 'negative morale,' if it i& ■worthy of that word, is quite as extraordinary as the active morale of the Japanese troops. From this follows the apparent paradox, which is in reality a logical outcome of the Slav character. We have been repeatedly assured that if General Kourapatkin's forces were not destroyed physically, they must at least be considered as morally ruined after Liaoyang, according to the law by which all armies are assumed to deteriorate under the discouragement of continual defeat. This is apt not to prove true in the case of Russian armies. The contrary is apt to appear. They react strongly under nothing' less than a very prolonged and powerful stimuiusr,' as we see in the case of Port Arthur; and* it is certain from every ad- , mission from observers on both sides, that i he- Russian army, receiving the imcompar5 able education of actual wwarr r is slowly but I steadily improving . in efficiency after nine ' months of . defeat. , When contemporary , history simply underscores former history , in this fashion: the ordinary reader; may [ safely be advised to discount all military ( prophecy which does not recognise that the • docility, the solid cohesion/ the fighting 1 and marching endurance, the cumulative resisting power of the Russian masses, con- | stitute an enormous asset in the shape of ' negative morale." While "Calchas" thus strives to prove how formidable a foe is th# Wine, Women, Russian on the defensive, in and the- the same number of the , Gambling Fortnightly Mr Angus ' Hamilton throws some sidelights on the Russian army which do much, to explain the reason of their successive defeats at the hands of [ the Japanese in Manchuria. Remarks this 1 writer : — "The Russian is a curious blend 1 of improvidence, superstition, and duplicity, t the extraordinary credulity of the common soldier being equalled* only by his utter indifference to' death. These men, too, possess in- high degree the qualities of courage- and endurance, while they may be relied on to- give implicit and unthinking ! obedience to their orders. "Upon the other hand, the great bulk of the-officers find no , interest in' their profession, and as a conse- ( t djience the Russian army has- deteriorated from that .state of efficiency which described I its condition' a generation .ago. If the men. , Represent (the most' magnificent material in I Europe, the officers- belong .to a class }. whose instincts make- them unfit to exerfcise any position, of authority whatever. - There ax&, of course, a fejv who, animated I with lau&able intentions, ' are concerned genuinely with, the- interests- of the service ; ■ but this small section aside, the type more usually met, and upon whom muck of the responsibility of the- present disaster rests, ; is represented by a creature who, destitute I of all moral qualities, finds pleasure in the ; gambling -taßle, the drinking saloons, and maisons de plaisir. The New Zealand liner the Maori King has been rechristened the Kosstajt Esperance, and as a Russian Munitioas. - transport has been, loading of War.. provisions, etc. — mostly etceteras, — for the Baltic fleet. The Include 1500 gallons of rum ! (40 degrees over proof) and over 100 cases of champagne, which has suggested the idea that the Baltic fleet is 'more inclined to a ' . picnic than to real war. The- nature of this > cargo gives a clue to the peculiar' conduct ; i of the Russian officers and men at the j various stopping places en route to the East, and- does mach to justify Mr Angus Hamilton's strictures on the character of the Russian forces. That these are terribly < cutting the following will show: — "If ai complete chapter were written upon the j ■ condition of affairs in Manchuria, it would i show that the troops have been left almost | ' entirely to the practical foresight of their non-commissioned officers, commissioned • ranks being. prone to idle away their hours , •with women of the town, or to drown their intellects with frequent potations. Restraint .has quite disappeared from the ] . order of affairs in Manchuria. The grossest | i immorality now prevails, gambling : flourishes, and the drinking has already assumnd very formidable ] proportions. Little attempt to check this riotous debauchery has been \ made. An army order appeared exhorting j officers to refrain, from drinking in the ; presence of the enemy ; but the evils continue, the prevailing pessimism imbuing everyone with complete indifference. At the present moment there is scarcely a redeeming feature in the condition of affairs, officers of the staff, no Jess than irresponsible subalterns, pursuing a round of giddy , dissipation with* undying vigour. Wine, women-, and the gambling tables are at the root of the Russian defeat,.- * ne protests of the few who would counsel a change being i overwhelmed by the jeers of the majority. From Harbin to Mukd-sa, from Mukden to iiao-yang, at Eai-cheng, and at Port , Arthur the trail of the prostitute has j marked out the land, and although Man- ■ churia is considered inaccessible at the pre- , sent iunctuxe, women of questionable ante- » cedents and men of doubtful character follow dose upon the heels of the army, a ! steady traffic of the least desirable riff-raff ' in Europe passing eastwards from Irkutsk." * Th* additional particulars, received by mail ! concerning the Dogger Bank Alt About the Outrage, together with the V Dogger Bant, fact that the North Sea i Commission will shortly 0* i opened, have revived interest in a spot s which will always have a certain historic ■ interest. The fact has been recalled that ; ilia kust creat naval battle between the

English and Dutch navies took place on the Dogger Bank in 1781, when Sir Hyde Parker, with a badly-equipped fleet, fought a drawn battle. But what renders the Dogger Bank famous is its untold wealth as a fishing ground, its resources in this respect being seemingly inexhaustible. About half a million tons of fish are taken annually from this famous fishing ground by the hundreds oi trawlers whose fleets resemble villages, with their churches, stores, hospitals, canteens, and post offices. It is said that if the bottom of the North Sea were raised a hundred feet the Doggei Bank would form an island about half the size of Scotland. The depth of water under which this great tract of land is submerged varies from forty to eighty feet. The fishing is carried on over the shallow parts in the summer, but in winter time the fish move into the deepei water. The fish are compared to sheep in their movements, frequenting the plateaus of the North Sea in the summer and the valleys in the winter ; and when they are crowded together in great numbers they can move readily be trawled. One of the favourite resorts of the flatfish is known as the "Silver Pit," and is situated a little .south of the Dogger Bank. Here it was that the unfortunate fishermen were at work when they were fired upon by the Russian fleet. Although the Dogger Bank has proved such a mine of wealth for the hardy fishermen from Hull and other East Coast ports, yet for .many years, it was left altogether unworked. It is recorded that in the time of Henry VII British boats went afield as far as the coast of, lceland to get cod for fast days and Lent, quite regardless of the 1 fishing grounds near at hand at Dogger Bank. Similarly, the Dutch fishermen were after herrings for years before they exploited the -Dogger Bank. It is asserted that the flavour of the fish caught on the Dogger is superior to that obtained elsewhere, the reason given being that the fishes feed on crustaceans, which afford the very best kind of nourishment fox the finny tribes. Certain it is that the fish caught in New Zealand waters never seem to have the same fine flavour as that which distinguishes those obtainable at Home.