CURRENT TOPIC.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6488, 17 May 1899, Page 4

CURRENT TOPIC.

During the first week of social April a conference of Sofkoblems.- cialists, representatives of labour, and of some local bodies, met at Leeds to discuss social problems. The object . of the gathering was more the interchange of ideas than the ■passing of resolutions ; and, a warning from our erstwhile Visitor, Mr Sidney Webb, against "windy declamation," was well teeded. The subjects discussed ranged from child labour to old age pensions ; and in connection with the latter Mr W. Crooks, of the London County Council, recommended that every person who was over sixty-eight years of age, or who was permanently dis- "' abled, but could be looked after outside an institution, and had an income •of not more than 10s per week, should be pensioned at the rate of 9d per day,- the payment of which should be managed by the existing machinery. As to the administration of the fund, Mr Crooks maintained that the creation of no new department would be necessary. The subject of technical education was dealt with by Mr Sidney Webb, who said he did not wish to stop at secondary schools or evening classes. He saw no reason why a university education should not be as accessible to the child of a work"ing man as should any other education. It was, he urged, perfectly possible from technical education money to endow a university or to establish a democratic side . to the existing university. The municipal section considered " The Municipalisation of the Drink Traffic." The subject was introduced by Councillor J. Johnston, of Manchester, who urged that the evils of drink could be lessened by the education of the rising' generation, and favoured the proposals of the United Kingdom Alliance. As an alternative, he said, the liquor trade could . be taken out of the hands of the monopolists, and placed under the control of bodies who would carry it. on in the general interest. Under public control, the -traffic would be better managed than under private control.. One-third of the profits, he suggested, shoiild be devoted, to: the replacement of slum dwellings, one-third should go towards, the expenses of education, and one-third towards old age pensions. He was opposed to compensation, except for a short term of years. It was urged, in connection with this matter, that municipal enterprise might be overdone, and if pushed too far. would produce a reaction, but, on the other hand,' it was f pointed out that civic management was not the only form of public control which could be applied to the liquor traffic. A remarkable story of another de travel and adventure is atbougemont. tracting attention in France just now. Its author styles himself the Marquis d'Angely. He declares that in 1863 he set out, in company with his father, to discover the South Pole. The ■ expedition was wrecked among the St Mary Islands, which are situated on the verge of the Antarctic continent, close to the spot reached by Ross in 1841. Those of the crew , who survived found that the islands were inhabited by a mixed French-speaking population of Polynesians, Malays and Papuans. This phenomenon M. d'Angely ascribes to the fact that during the Napoleonic wars a number of French prisoners were deported

to the islands by the British. The prisoners, he learned, had not only taught, the natives the French language, but had also induced them to adopt French institutions and customs. So far, the story has simply a sentimental interest, but it closes with a statement of very practical importance. The islands, the -narrator affirms, are extraordinarily auriferous. Gold is as common there as iron is in s»me countries. Naturally, he was asked why he had not brought back any of the precious metal. His explanation is contained in his narrative of his return journey. After spending many years in the St Mary's he set out for Europe in 1895. When he started his luggage consisted of twenty, large chests, filled for the most part with gold and nuggets. B»t he was twice wrecked, and by the time lie landed in his native country practically nothing remained of his riches. Since his return lie claims to have received a letter from his former home. He professes to be willing to show the note to anybody who" may care to read it. Those people who have inspected it say that it bears a* Australian postmark. The Marquis is frank, however. He admits the identity of tha postmark, but points put that as there is no post office at the St Mary Islands letters have to be sent for postage to Australia. Finally, the Marquis declares that, together with his father, he visited the South Pole no fewer tfism four times, or, at any rate, got sufficiently close to. it to ascertain that it is a vast volcano in a state of perpetual eruption. It remains to be seen how far the story will gull the French public. Colonials, in whose memories the fictions of De Rougemont are still fresh, may be pardoned if they regard it with some suspicion. It js recognised that it is education the duty of the British peoiv India, pie, as masters of India, to ■ see that the teeming population of that vast peninsula is not allowed to live and die in absolute ignorance. The difficulty is fro determine what kind of education f;he natives should receive. Many people hold that it shonld, as nearKy as pos-' sible, be the kind whach is given, or supposed to be given, to British children, and that the English language should hold a foremost place in the curriculum. Others contend that any attempt to educate the Indian child into a European would be worse than useless. The aim and end of the education of the Indian, they say, should be to impress him with a due sense of the superiority of the European, and of the British especially. Whichever, school of theorists is right, and there is something to be said in favour of both, a Blue Book recently published shows that education in India is not yet a very gigantic affair. Out of a population of about 250,000,000 (i.e., British India and some of the native States) there are only 3,700,000 children in elementary schools, and of these only 350,000 are girls. In England, according to a recent London paper, there are 5,500,000 children on the registers of the primary schools, but of a population, of 31,500,000. The average attendance is about the same in both countries, that is, about 80 per cent of regularity. The population of school-going age may be taken at one-fif fcb of the total population; consequently, in England about five in every six children are at school ; in India about five in every seventy-five. Of course in the case of girls, the matter is far worse. In England five out of six, in India five out of 355, attend school. As compared with the Mohammedans, the Hindus show more interest in education. The cost of an Indian child's education is not great, being about three and a half rupees — say, 5s — : per head per annum. Even at college the average cost is only —s. 200 a year, or under £15. English- is steadily gaining ground. Of. the children of school-going age one in ninety-four was learning English in 1891-2, nnd one in seventy-nine in 1896-7. The total expenditure on education in India is only about £3,500,000, of which £1,000,000 is provided by fees. The educational outlook in India is certainly not encouraging.