The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INOORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MEROURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1913.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3102, 27 August 1913, Page 47

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INOORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MEROURY. (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1913.) THE WEEK.

“ Nunquam aliu-d natura, aliud sapientia dixit.”— JCYRXAI.. . , . , „ “ Good uaturc and good sense must ever join. Pope. Conversation about the weath.-r is ordinarily treated ns a joke; Vagaries of «ud as * if to resent the the Weather, imputation, the -weather of lato has settled down into something quite serious. Mies Edith Howes, In nor charming story, “Fairy Rings.” makes the Olork of the Weather, who was complaining of being overworked, say In reply to the suggestion “Why work so hard? ’Why make so many changes?’’ “If I took a holiday it would make" no end of trouble. Things must be kept going. . . Besides, what would the earth-people have to talk about if I did not make constant changes in the weather?''' And in Oscar Wilde’s delightful play, “The Importance of Being Earnest,” when Jack ejaculates “Charming day!” Gwendolen promptly replies: “Pray don’t talk to me about the weather. Mr

ibout the weather I always feel quite certain that they mean something else. And that makes me nervous.” During the past week, however, the Weather Clerk nas been so busy in different part of the world making such surprising changes, that people have been talking about the weather without meaning anything else, and have been getting quite nervous m o the bargain. In America a terrible heat wave has severely damaged the crops, and the August bulletin indicates that the vield will be 450,000 bushels below that of last year. In the United Kingdom the conditions are practically the same. A drought in England and Scotland is daily becoming more serious for agriculturists ; Glasgow was reported to have onlv 77 days’ water supply, while the River Tay "reached the lowest level on record, and Bedfordshire has been without rain for nearly three months. But. while America has been suffering from intense heat and England and Scotland from severe drought, this Dominion or at least the southern end of the South Island has been visited by a drenching downpour of rain which has caused considerable inconvenience, and has done not a little damage. Coming so soon after the floods of a fortnight ago, the same scenes of rivers-overflowing their banks, farms submerged, and stock •suffering have been repeated; especially has this boon the case on the Taieri Plain. Owing to slips and other obstacles the railway service has been badly dislocated, and at the present time the Otago Central is cut off from communication with Dunedin except by an exceedingly circuitous route. Even the nortlf line "is partially interrupted. Worst of all, from a city point of view, the supply of electric light and power has once more been interfered with: factories have had to stop working, and a large number of hands are temporarily thrown out of employment. Altogether, the outlook at the time of writing is somewhat melancholy, especially since the signs heralding" Spring, which appeared last week, have given place to a keen wintry blast But such are the vagaries of the weather that the su n may soon be expected to shine again, when the damage done will speedily be repaired, and_ gloomy thoughts will give way before the influence of that inherent optimism which is the birthright of a healthy, happy, and properous people.

A combination of circumstances working together, in various parts The Outlook of the world would seem 1< r Farmer*, to indicate a prospect of good times coming for the farmers of New Zealand. The American heat wave and the British drought will only serve to accentuate conditions which for a long time have been evident to the farseeing student of affairs. According to a late cable, an English Board of Trade return, just issued, has directed attention to a shrinkage in the world’s meat supply. The return states that the overseas product shows an insufficient expansion, and that the quantity from the United States has declined 3,750,000 cwt since 1907. The imports from Canada have fallen over 500,000 cwt, and the supplies from New Zealand do not show any expansion. Practically the whole of the increase comes from Australia and Argentina. From Berlin comes news that the municipalities of the city and suburbs have decided to import Australian mutton in large quantities to meet the prevailing scarcity, and ’ to counteract the present high prices. Another message from the same quarter states that, chiefly owing to the increased cost of livihg, the German savings bank deposits during the year were depleted to the extent of £700.000. There is also the significant news item from ' Sydney that, in view of the development of the meat trade with America, there is a possibility of the Oceanic Steamship Company extending its service to Brisbane. On the top of all this comes news that in the American Senate the President’s free sugar programme has been carried, and that the fight for free wool has commenced —the Democrats expecting to carry that part of their programme also. Thus, all over the world a movement is .going on which is destined to have a profound influence upon the fortunes of the New Zealand farmer, and, incidentally, upon the fortunes of the people of New Zealand as a whole. The first indication of this movement is to ha seen in the steady spread of Socialistic ideas and doctrines, which, by enlarging the horizon of the mass of the people, make for a higher average standard of living, and, consequently, for a greater demand for commodities of food and clothing. This hiarher standard of living in its turn is adding enormously to the cost of living by sending up the price of these commodities which are most in demand. And in Protectionist countries, notably in America and on the Continent of Europe, there are signs of a breaking down of the harrier of high tariffs, and a movement towards international FreetradeIn his recent book on “Germany and the Germans,” which is written from the American standpoint, and largely for the purpose of instituting comparisons between Germany and America, Mr Price Collier explains at length the working of the movement to which we have referred. He says: “The reason for the higher cost of living in Germany is to be found in the movement of the population from the dulness of the plough to the spriirhtliness of the kinematograph. This choice every freeman has a right to make for himself: but the trouble arises when the politician comes forward and pays his admission of the kinematograph out of the public funds in order to* get his vote. The man who does not leave the plough under those conditions is either a fool or a saint, and the percentage of the growth of cities is a fair measure of their relative numbers. The increased cost of Jiving is the result, not of too much gold, but of too little labour on the land, and this is due in turn to the voluptuous rhetoric of the political street-walkers, whose promises of pleasure are as illegitimate as they are

Worthing. Whenever people talk to me impossible of fulfilment. A debtor nation like Germany is highly sensitive to these conditions, and just as she is overcoming, by . her success as a manufacturing nation, this problem, she is met by increased and ever-increasing rivalry. \. . . The agricultural population of Germany in 1850 was 65 in 100; it is now less than one-third. In 1911, after a bad year for the farmers, Germany was obliged to pay some 20 million sterling more than usual for food. ... As Germany can only

feed — : even in good harvest years—4B.ooo,ooo or 49,000,000 of her peonje, a iarge proportion of her profits from industry must necessarily go to the purchase of (pod for the other 16,000,000 or 17,000,000. The consumption of meat has increased among all classes in Germany, and both the demands af the individual and of the State have increased with the increased wealth of the country.’’ It is evident, therefore, that, with a new market for New Zealand meat on the Continent and in America, and with the prospect of New Zealand wool, being admitted free of duty to the United States, the agriculturists and pastoralists of this Dominion may look forward to a period of high prices for their products, and the people of New Zealand generally to a time of prosperity.

Herr Rebel, the famous German Socialist leader, whose funeral at Herl’ebel Berne was attended by and tlerman}'. 150,000 people, representing ( an imposing away ot Socialist delegations, has left behind him a letter which makes a serious attack upon the alleged weakness of the German army. Herr Bebel declares that German’s increased military programme was not dictated by any desire to resume the conflict with France, but rather because the Kaiser, as the result of the Balkan war, saw that the German army had completely “gone to the doge.” As the result of the battles between the Balkan Allies and Turkey, the Kaiser realised that the French arms were better tha,n the German arms, since the German officers were directly responsible for Turkey’s defeat. The military programme decided upon was, in Herr Rebel's opinion, merely a device of the Kaiser’s to divert the attention of France from Germany's vulnerability, while he was busy repairing the weaknesses of the German army. On the other hand, Mr Price Collier writes : “Of the value of the German army as a fighting force it would be ridiculous in my case to write. I have read and heard scores of criticisms and comments from many sources, and they range from those who claim that the German army is unbeatable, even if attacked from all sides, to those who maintain that it is already stale and mechanical. - ’ While, doubtless, Herr Bebel has had better opportunities than Mr Price Collier of arriving at a conclusion, yet too much weight, necessarily, cannot be attached to" the prejudiced opinion of a Socialist on such a matter. For, in other matters, it can scarcely be claimed for Bebel that he has proved a true' prophet. Writing on whether German Socialism is making for peace, Dr Sarolea says: “There is one thing which is even more astonishing than the phenomenal growth of Socialism, and that is its impotence. The very contrast between its numerical power and the paucity of its achievements reveals the inherent weakness of the party. It is admirably organised; it is characterised by splendid loyalty and discipline. The German Social Democrat pays his subscription liberally and regularly. But he gives us once more a striking proof that neither numbers, nor organisation, nor financial resources are the decisive factors of victory. After the Franco-German war, Bebel, intoxicated by the first triumphs of his party, prophesied that by 1896 the social and political revolution would have triumphed in Germany, , and that Communism would be established. In 1912 Communism has not prevailed, and Prussian reaction is stronger than ever.”

If the American women are inclined to make themselves ridiculous

Folly by their extravagances in ami Fashion, fashion and in dress, many of the American municipal authorities are making themselves still more ridiculous in authorising the police to regulate the outdoor dress of the ladies. For instance, the Mayor of Portand. Oregon, has instructed the police to arrest any woman seen wearing an X-ray dress ‘in the streets. Asked to define an X-ray dress, the Mayor replied that it was one in which the neck w r as too low, the slit skirt too much slit, and the sheath dress too much sheathed. What the Mayor of Portland would say to the French fashions it is impossible to discover; probably his indignation would be too great for words. It is cabled that one feature of French seaside modes is the invisible drees, in which the skirt, made of light, rosecoloured silk or gauze on transparent crepe de chine, is slightly draped from the hips, the corsage being of the same material, scantily lined with pink, flesh-coloured satin. ' Some ladies, it is said, have gone even further, wearing flesh-coloured stocking tights, and a dress lined with a material to match the colour of the wearer’s own skin. Fortunately, such absurdities, even when they do not reach the point of absolute indecency or immodesty, work their own cure. It is only the few who desire to become notorious who perpetrate them, and the moment they cease to cause notoriety, they are abandoned. Happily, in this Dominion, the climate is too changeable to permit either of invisibility or X-rays in the matter of costume. In so far as the present fashion tends to simplicity and health, "it merits encouragement, and, for the rest, it must be left to the common sense of the majority. Experience goes to show that the less the men meddle in the matter of ladies’ dress the better it is for all parties concerned.