The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DRES SINE LINEA" THURSDAY, JAN. 23rd, 1919. CONQUEST OF SPACE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17477, 23 January 1919, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DRES SINE LINEA" THURSDAY, JAN. 23rd, 1919. CONQUEST OF SPACE.

The world is becoming smaller every day. 'Ihis fact is impressed on up wh^n we read, as we do constantly, of v.a

annihilation of distance. The speed achievements of io-day are remarkable, dwarfing into insignificance the stories of Eastern romancers, whose flying carpet flfl'l seven-league boots so delighted childhood days. The two principal att-

nihilators of distance, of course, ;;i'c

telegraphy and aviation. They are destined 'to play a revolutionary and

beneficent part in the future of the world. Particularly of interest ane their achievements to the British peopie, wliose far-flung Empire finds place ir. every sea and continent. Withoutmeans of rapid and cheap communication^ the units of the Empire are bricics scattered on the ground j with the faciiities mentioned, the units become strongly cemented brick* in the wail of Ennpaite. It must b e so. Much iui •

been done to bring about this desired .state but, much y^et remains to bedoti'e. The coming of the steamship worked a revolution in the-relations of Englan-i and tbij people who went ouj, to cultivate nes- lands for her. ''Taking New Zealand as typical of other Dominions, the pioneers found themselves in a very different, position from that occupied by present-day emigrants. Then, England

was ' anyithing from three months i© six monichs away from New Zealand. The emigrant went down to the sea :n } comparatively, a cockleshell, and as the shores of his native- land dropped out of ■ sight, lie and those he left behind regarded themselves as most, probably having said their final farewell on «arr.h. Arrived in Xew Zealand, weary months, passed before news could be received

from Home, or replies .obtained to letters written. Apar^ altogether .from i:he privations and dangers incicUm'tyl to life in the new country, Jhere <vas tha feeling of isolation which only brav<j hearts could have withstood. Theu came the steamship service. Slow, in comparison with modern liners the first

/steamers came in the gttiae of good angels, for they at least fixed, to within a day or two, the distance sii which England l:\y from New Zealand, and they reduced tha^ distance to weeks in place of months. Year by yea>r the s'teaniing capacity of the ships has been increased, and mew routes have been opened up, allowing ot connecting railway journeys across continents, until to-day England is little more than a month away from New Zealand. Wha^, a change! Think what> it means, both commercially and .socially! The New Zealander is no longer isolated, and a journey to lhe O'd Land is accounted jof little importance. In fact, so exeeli lent is the mail service (in normrJ times) that one has no need to visit England in order to keep in touch with

it and the folk there. Letters and papers come to hand with wonderful regularity, and so quickly that the colonist is only a few weeks behind the

Homo reader

But whait of the tele-

graph ? That is the greaite^t coloniser of all. It has brought England to tlie door of New Zealand and vice versa. Not only is the colonis: enabled to r<?a-l in his morning's paper accounts oi things done in London the previous day, bun he may, if lie have sufficient mon<?y,

keep in daily telegraphic touch with his friends in the Old Land. We sny advisedly "if he have sufficient money," for that condition, of course, governs I the situation. And it is that knowledge J which emphasises the necessity, in the interests of th c Empire, for the cheapenjing of the cable service. If the charges

for cabling wer e reduced to a figure

which would put the service within the reach of all, the Empire, instead of being scattered over the face of the, whole globe, would be a concrete whole, each part in daily touch with the other. Thl.j is a matter which does not require argument : it k self-evident. Ch?ap cables and mails are absolute e>ssentiais to th? welfare of the Empire. But to return to ih c subjecj. o? distance annihilation jsnd its importance to the. outlying Dominion*. The progress in tJus realms of aviation k absolutely stalling. We are assured—and there is | not ''kfc slightest ground for doubting jthe statement —that Sydney can be I reached from London, by aeroplane flight, in four days. That being so, and Zealand being only about VI hours' flight from Sydney, we may expect, in tlie not distant future, to ;*eceive '> London mail in five or six days. It seems incredible, but it is coming .'«« surely as anything can be predicted. And wbot applies to communication between Enjrlaud and Now Zealand applies with the sanv. force k> the whole world. Distance i.s disappearing, and tlie world is becoming smaller. The coming age will be remarkable.