The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. {WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1910.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 51

The Otago Witness, WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. {WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1910.) THE WEEK.

" Nunquam aliud natura, aliud sspientia dixit.”—« JUTES'AL. “ &ood nature and good sense must ever join,”-* POPE. “Times of Heroism are generally times of terror” says Emerson, and the adage exactly applies to the narrowly averted tragedy in the Otira tunnel. _ No more terrible fate can well be imagined' than the living death which threatened the men entombed by the collapse of the tunnel’s roof ; yet despite the imminent danger there were not wanting ■gshers gi yuar aiates who, without hesita-

Heroism in the Otira Tunnel.

tion, and taking their lives in their hands, rushed to the work of rescue, only in turn' to be imprisoned with the rest. Milton's stirring lines fitly describe the heroism of the deed: No thought of flight, •None of retreat, no unbecoming d-eed That argued fear; each on himself relied, As only in his arm the moment lay Of victory.

And the finest tribute to the courage and determination of the rescuers is the fact that in face of such dire danger no lives have been lost. Kichter has said that "Men and women of retiring timidity are coM'ardly only in dangers which affect themselves, but the first to rescue when others are endangered," to which Marston adds, "Much danger makes great hearts ■most resolute." The circumstances surrounding the accident in the Otira tunnel go to prove the truth of such sayings. It is the joy of an age too often dubbed degenerate to discover that in the breasts of the men and women of to-day lies 'latent the same spirit of heroism, the manifestation of which has formed subject far the great epics of the past, which bas provided food for the arguments of the philosopher, the songs of the poet, the works of the sculptor and the painter. And it is the reflection and influence of deeds of heroism such as marked the work of rescue and succour in the Otira tunnel which go to the moulding of the nation, and the making of character throughout the Dominion. In which connection we may well quote a further sentence or two from Eimer&on's wellknown essay: ' 'Heroism in its rudest form is the contempt for safety and ease which marks the attractiveness of war. There is something in great actions wliich does not allow us to go behind them. 'Heroism feels, and never reasons, and therefore is always right; and although a different breediing, different religion, and greater intellectual activity would have modified or even reversed the particular action—yet for the hero that thing he does is the highest deed, and is set open to the censure of philosophers or divines. .'lt is the avowal of the unschooled man that he finds a quality in him that is negligent of expense, of health, of life, . of danger, of hatred, of reproach, and knows that his will is higher and more excellent than all actual and possible •antagonists. Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse of an individual's character. Self-trust is the essence of heroism. It is the state of the soul at war, and its ultimate objects are the last defiance of falsehood and wrong, and the power to bear all that can be inflicted ; t»y evil agents. It speaks the truth, ! and it is just, generous, hospitable, tem- ■ jperate, scornful of petty calculations and scornful of being scorned. It persists, it |ds of an undaunted boldness and of a | -fortitude not to be wearied out. Its ' jest, is the littleness of common life. . That false prudence which dotes on health ! and" wealth is the butt and merriment of j iheroism. The characteristic of heroism is Vats persistency. All men have wandering f impulses, fits and starts of generosity. ' But when you have chosen your part i nbide by it, and do not weakly try to- re coneile yourself with the world. The I (heroic cannot be common nor the common : -heroic. Whoso is heroic will always find crises to try his edge." Thus while our sympathies go out to the sufferers by the disaster, yet our sympathy is tinged. | ."with two distinct notes of gladness—-the ■ first because no live* have been lost, the second because the crisis served to try ,' /the edge of much unsuspected heroism, and to reveal it worthy to endure the trial.

|We live in an age when matters move rapidly. Scarcely has the average man recovered . from the astonishment which the successful flight over the British Channel elicited than his (breath is taken away by the record established by M. Paiilhan in his flight from ‘London to Manchester—a. distance of 200 ■. miles—within twenty-four hours. Yet ( Show far the art of aviation is yet in its I infancy is. seen in the fact that the same | distance can be covered by an express I railway train in , rather less than. four, i (hours. . • At- tile same time the feat for I which. M. Paulhan has been the recipient of the Daily Mail’s prize of £IO,OOO is i a notable one, although from an Imperial j point of view it may be regretted that the jwinner, was a Frenchman. • The Daily | ‘Mail, with ‘ commendable enterprise, has j offered a second prize of £IO,OOO for a ( flight from London to Edinburgh and j back. But although so much has been accomplished and it has been demonstrated that it is not only possible for a man on a flying machine to remain in the air for a considerable length of time, but also to navigate his machine from point to point, yet a great deal more remains (to be discovered before flying can become general either as sport or for purposes of transport. And still further in the ’(future is the period when aviation will (be utilised for the purposes of war. At (the same time readers of Mr H. G. Wells’s (fantastic romance, “War in the Air,’’.will he surprised to find how accurately the 'imaginative novelist has foretold M. Paulhan’s triumph, which lendiS weight to the idea that the tragedy he foresees as the outcome of the perfection of aviation ■may yet be in store for the civilised world. “Everybody talked of flying.” writes Mr Wells, “everybody repeated over and over again ‘Bound to come,’ and then you know it didn’t, come. There was -a hitch. They flew ! that was all right, they flew in machines heavier than air. But they smashed. Sometimes they smashed the machine, sometimes they smashed the aeronaut, usually they smashed both. Machines that made flights of three or four miles and came down safely went up the next time to disaster. There seemed no (possible trusting them. The breeze upset them, the eddies near the ground upset them, a passing thought upset them., a passing thought in the mind of the aeronaut U2>set them, also they upset

The Advance of Aviation.

simply." And following a period of comparative inactivity in . aviation, the novelist realistically depicted "how the final boom of flying began. It was like the coming of a breeze on a quiet day : nothing started it—it came." The precursor of M. Paulhan in "The War in the Air" was an Alfred Butteridge : "It was the unanticipated and entirely successful flight c-f Mr Alfred Butteridge from the Crystal Palace to Glasgow and back in a small business-like looking machine that could fly as well as a pigeon. It wasn't as one felt a fresh stride forward in the matter so much as a giant stride —a leap. Mr Butteridge remained in the air altogether for about nine hours, and during that time he flew with the ease and assurance of a bird. His machine was, however, neither bird-like nor butter-fly-like, nor had it the wide lateral expansion of the ordinary aeroplane. The effect upon the observer was rather something in the nature of a bee or wasp. Parts of the apparatus were spinning very rapidly, and gave one a hazy effect of transparent wings; but parts, including two peculiarly curved ' wing-cases ' —if one may borrow a figure from the flyingbeetle—remained expanded stiffly. In the middle was a long rounded body, like the body of a moth, and on this Mr Butteridge could be seen sitting astride mucfi ais a man bestrides a horse. The wasplike resemblance was increased by the fact that the apparatus flew with a deep booming hum exactly like the sound made by a wasp at a window pane." M. Paulhan's. successful flight should send many readers to Mr Wells's romance, since it forecasts the future in a surprising degree. The curious will also do well to turn to Kipling's sketch, " With The Night Mail," a marvellous endeavour to portray the world in a state of perfect aviation. The subject is a fascinating one, since the student cannot fail to be impressed with its immense possibilities and its influence in transforming the whole of civilisation.

The Liberal Government are to be congratulated on the passing of what will probably go down to history as the most famous Budget in the political record of the United Kingdom, and we fancy that the triumph was not without its effect in the enthusiasm displayed by the Socialists in the May Day demonstrations in London and elsewhere. Amid the congratulations which have doubtless been showered down upon Mr Lloyd-George and his colleagues., there is one fact that should not be forgotten—viz., the part played in the business-by the House of Lords. The Peers deemed it their duty to record a protest against- the placing upon the Statute Book of what they deemed an unjustifiable enactment, and there was much during the recent elections to show that the protest was perfectly justified. But the new Parliament having given its assent to the Budget, the Lords distinctly played the game in offering no further opposition to the obnoxious measure. It now remains to be seen what was the price paid by Mr Asquith to secure the passing of the Budget". It is a commonplace that, the reason why this particular business was so long delayed, instead of being made the first item after Parliament met, was because Mr ■ Asquith could not relv upon a majority. And only after'' prolonged negotiations with the Nationalists was Mr Asquith able to secure victory. It is not too much to say, however, that the most serious troubles of the Asquith Administration lie in. the near future. For not only are there financial - embarrassments consequent upon the delayed Budget to be faced and straightened out, but the real battle with the House of Lords is, yet to come. It may be that Mr Asquith, having, passed his Budget, would be well content to let the Lords alone, but such a course would alienate the support of at least the Labour section of his followers, and certainly of Mr Lloyd-George, who has all along declared his determination to settle with the Peers. The exact measure of reform of the Lords which will satisfy the Labour members is difficult to define, but there is considerable force in the opinion recently expressed by Mr Will Thorne. That member of Parliament has declared that the House of Lords will not easily be. abolished. He believes that the House of Lords, the Monarchy, and the Church are so dovetailed together that the abolition of any part of the present Constitution must mean destruction of the whole. And certainly England is not yet ripe for such a revolution, whatever the future may hold. To add to his other difficulties, Mr Asquith has Mr Redmond and his demands to settle with. It is probable that the Nationalists have extorted a big price for-their support of the Budget, and some fairly sweeping programme of Home Rule for Ireland is bound to be brought forward before very long. This will give a rallying cry to the Unionists and if, as appears likely, another general election looms in the near future, the voting may once more place a Conservative Administration in power. The statement that a South African National party is beingformed under the leadership of General Botha is of a distinct significance in view of the fact that South African Union will oe consummated at the end of the presentmonth. At an early date the duty will devolve upon Lord Gladstone of sending for some prominent stateman -and entrusting him with the task of forming the first Union Government in South Africa. Probabilities point to the Goveniorgeneral’s selection falling upon General Botha. The responsibility attaching to the first Premiership of a United South Africa is very great, for not only will he be called upon to form a Cabinet, but also to appoint such legislative and administrative heads as the automatic ending of all existing authority will necessitate, And this must be done prior to

The Passing of the Bn if get.

Union in South Africa.

' the summoning together of the new Par.lia- . ment. At the end of May all existing i Government in Cape Colony, Natal, the | Transvaal, and the Orange Free State I will oease to he, since the Union will j come into operation on June 1. The only I possible claimant for the Premiership, bei sides General Botha, is Mr Merriman, the ! present Premier of Cape Colony, who, : although a brilliant politician, with a record of forty years public life behind i him, lacks that stability which the l occasion demands. Versatile to a degree, he has an unfortunate habit of changing his opinions on occasion, and be is said to hate the sight of Hansard. His recent utterances upon the racial question have given rise to considerable comment, since they seem; to go back upon the basic principles which underly the terms of Union. It would be little short of disastrous if in the formation of the political parties in a United South Africa the old racial animosity is allowed to assume prominence. There are indications that under General Botha's leadership the South African National party would in reality consist of a coalition Government, able to comprehend men of differing opinions, like Dr Jameson, General Smuts, and General de Wet. Mr Merriman strongly inveighs against any idea of coalition, and insists upon the importance of a fighting opposition. But this argument, although generally sound, does not apply in the peculiar circumstances attending South African Union. The first and most important consideration must be the avoidance of any semblance of racial conflict, and it is therefore safe to conclude that when the time arrives General Botha will be given the arduous task of inaugurating the new Constitution. So wise a decision should help to lay the first plank in Lord Gladstone's popularity in his new Governor-Generalship.