Intense Culture in the East. What People are Saying

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13434, 22 July 1911, Page 11

Intense Culture in the East.

What People are Saying

A humble-minded pilgrimage by an expert was seen in the visit of F. 11. King, of the Wisconsin Agricultural College., to China and Japan to studv whv their soils could support three persons tb the aero, •■crtern agriculturists have much to Jem--from those farmers who havo made tb!c soil respond for twenty and perhaps even forty centuries of service (says 'Collier's Weekly'). The average farm is supporting three persons to tho acre, and in nearly all parts of the densely-populated sections two, three, aud sometimes eve.ii lour crops are taken from the same field each year. But this is not tho only rau.M> of their longer growing season. Tho almost universal practice of planting nearly all crops in rows and iu hills' in the row permits one crop to bo planted, germinated, and often hoed l>eforo another crop has been removed from the field, thus utilising for growth all of the time wc consume in removing the harvest and in fitting the ground lor the next, crop. Then there is tho other very expensive practice of starting crops in nurseries under conditions of intensive fertilisation, securing on a much smaller area rapid growth and stronger plants, which arc then transferred to the fields. In this manner oven the vast areas covered \f- the staple rice crop are handled, Hie plants beiug grown, thirty or more days in .small bodE, gaining thereby thirty to u'fty days, during which another noon the same lield is matured, harre.;ro-rl. aud the ground lit ted for the one to loi' lew.

Human labour is the one asset of which they have an oxcefts, and if, is freely u&d in securing the effect, of longer seasons, which, because of their geographical position, exceed ours. In Southern China two crops of rice arc regularly token, and this is true even in parts of Japan. In the Chekiang province a crop of rape, of wheat, or beans, or of green mulching precedes the summer crop of rice or of cot'on. In the Stautung province a crop of wiuter wheat or of barley is followed in the summer with a crop of millot and soy beans, of sweet potatoes, or peanuts. As far north as Tientsin and Pekin, in the latitude of Columbus 0., lndianopolis. and Springfield, 111., Mr King talked with a former who followed lub crop of wheal with ono of ouions, and these with carb&rc the, same year, realising a gross earning of lfiSdol. gold per acre. Another farmer planted a- crop of white potatoes at the earliest opportunity in the spring, marketed them younsr, and followed with onions and then with cabbage, realising 20:3dol. per acre for three crops.

ABOUT MATTERS Of- INTEREST, The "Observer" and the Chancellor. The Observer, a political _ opponent of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, says that "in his capacity ns the real heart am! soul of the destructive energy of the Coalition, wo have had our quarrels with him before, ami for aught wo know wo may have them again. But wo have often, even in the hottest moments of controversy, expressed the opinion that in his constructive and conciliatory mood ho is his essential'’’self, full of all tho possibilities' of grearti executive statesmanship.- At last ho'has justified' that‘view to the full. ■ A NATIONAL STATESMAN. ‘‘When he re-entered the Parliamentary arena, in circumstances of restored health and vigour, personally welcomed by every opponent, lie re-appeared definitely as a national statesman; and it was certain when he sat down that ,f he leaks steadily to the end henceforth, rather than nimbly to the moment, and realises that it is the higher part of any great political career which, determines tile judgment of posterity, he will take .historic rank in the, whole lino of national statesmen. As the one really vitalising element in the Government and the Co-' alitiou, ho has incomparable chances in public life and a searching responsibility.

A GREAT SPEECH. "He has had an infinitely difficult and intricate task. He has brought to bear upon its exhaustive labour, practical aptitude of the highest kind, thorough moral courage, and with these a certain inimitable reasonableness and skill which are ail his own. His exposition on.Thursday, devoid of ornament, without a sentence or a syllable of partisanship, was that rarest and almost best thing in Parliamentary politics, a. great speech and a quiet speech," adds the Observer. •'Evervoue who heard it saw in its author a far bigger man when he sat down than lie was thought to be., either by friends or foes, when he rose." LIVINGSTONE AND THE BOERS. A letter written by David Livingstone in 1851 has just been published in the Church Magazine of .St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Altonburg Gardens, Clapham Common. It contains an interesting glimpse of the Boers in the faraway days of 1851, in which year tho letter was written. "A number of men of Dutch extraction," called Boers or Boors, prove great, plagues to'the natives of the region'be-* yond this, and they are hindrances to the progress of the Gospel, as they possess guns and horses, and look upon the natives as so many'baboons which may' be. shot without guilt; their doods are horrible. A French missionary lately; attempted to go to the natives who are living in subjection to these Boers, but they compelled him to return whence he came: they forbid us to speak unto the Gentiles that they may be saved. And yet these Boers are very religious in their own way. Each one lias his Bible, and many of them conceive they aro the peculiar favourites of heaven ; indeed, not a few of thera -.imagine that tjiey are in the same position, of Israel when led they lift -tlm colony becauso the' British Government would not allow them to They hate the English mosf %&imkh'. The' Scotch have rather more favour in their eyes, but they -sumJibas sspn nicer, the devil as a missionary; They frequently murder the native chieftains, steal cattle and children; -thorn Joeds ofton prevent the natives from thinking .on better things, for when the native, mind is -.preoccupied by rumours of attacks thev cannot attend ,to pur instructions. 'The" worst feature in the case of these Boers is Uvo-j-r belief that they are C,l^ris r tinns. This belief is fostered by then ministers, who! to the disgrace of our country, are generally Scotchmen."

QUARRELS ABOUT THE COMMUNION.

"On the 1 protest that the rulo requiring that communicants must possess through Confirmation, the status of communicants, is a moro matter of domestic regulation, the Bishop of Hereford is arranging a Celebration of the Holy Eucharist at which Dissenters am invited to communicate," says tho Times. "It is necessary to call attention to the fact that Confirmation is not on institution peculiar to tho Church of England, but the common-inheritance of'tho Catholic Church. It is the completion of tho rite of Baptism, now separated from it by the years intervening between infancy ami the age of discretion, but once universally, and even now in one part of the Church, administered at the, time of baptism. The full rite confers tho status of a communicant.

"If a Dissenter chooses to ignore the Catholic usage, that is no reason why the Church should go out of its nay to accommodate him, and we can only regard tho Bishop of Hereford's proposed action as a piece of amiablo but by no moans harmless eccentricity. It occurs to us to ask if his lordship intends not even to ask if tho intending communicants are baptised. For there are sects which lay no stress on baptism, and it seems to us that the Bishop of Hereford is offering facilities for the very gravest irregularities, .to use the, least offensive expression. , . "A safer.guide in his matter is the Bishop of London," says tho Times, "who, in tho-recent-Lent Mission, said,- 'ln.no matter is straightforwardess needed more than in religion. I honour a conscientious Nonconformist who sticks to his principles; biit it is iio good trying to be half and half. Bo one thing or the other. Why/should you want to receive the Communion in the Church if you have not fulfilled the condition laid down by the Church—which is Confirmation?' " Canon Hensley Henson, in a letter to the Times, says of that eminent Baptist minister, Robert Hall, that ou ono occasion he presented himself for Communion in n Particular Baptist Church, ho himself being a General Baptist. An official politely indicated to him that he could not be admitted to the Sacrament as not belonging io the denomination. "I thought this was the Lord's Supper," he rejoined; "if it is only your supper I havo no wish to remain."

JERUSALEM'S TREASURE SEEKERS

"It having boon stated that Captain Parker and his companions have- boon excavating in the rock beneath the Mosque . of Omar at Jerusalem," the. Evening Standard says, "we cannot believe that they actually made their way to a secret crypt 'in' the mosque, and carried thence, some Solomonic treasures. Such a theft would be inconsistent with their character as English gentlemen. But it is the height of folly for foreigners to mine inside a rock nrecious to the whole Mohammedan world as the place whore Abraham bound Isaac on the altar, and from which Mahomat ascended to Heaven. And, considering the superhuman power and glorv with which after ages have endowed Solomon, it would soein desecration of the worst kind to I carry off, as is alleged, his regalia, in-

chiding, perhaps, that wonderful seal with which he forced all the evil spirits of the universe to do his bidding." In a, communication to the Times, the Hon. Montague Parker says that he and his colleagues have discovered the spot where the City of David and tho Jebusite city existed. With regard to the rumours which have lieen circulated concerning work undertaken in connection with the Mosque of Omar, nothing can be said until the Commission appointed b,v the Turkish' Government to inquire into •this question has presented its report. The work of the expedition has been suspended since April 17, and Capt. Parker, liavijig been to Constantinople himself on his way home and seen the officials of the Turkish Government; has definitely arranged that, operations shall be resumed on August I.

COST OF BEING GENTLEMEN ! "We suspect that it is really because Am erica ns want to by gentlemen that they so-often inflict pain and death on their fellow-citizens," writes the Independent. "Why, for example, should they pack hundreds of girls in a sweat-shop lire trap, and lock the doors to prevent possible escape, if this were not a ready way to obtain the income necessary for men who Mould live well and maintain a respectable establishment P Gentlemen, for example, must have automobiles. They cannot ride with the common herd in subway trams. "It is not quite fair, few think, to argue that if Americans were really becoming civilised they would not make their toilets in public, nor run down pedestrians in the streets, nor imitate the costumes of savagery, nor exploit the helpless, nor make bonfires of-their historical records.

"Civilisation is not possible until people cease to swagger, cease to be greedy, cease to obtrude their own personal affairs upon their fellow-men. ' It is not possible until they begin to feel kindly and humanely, to care for knowledge and ideas, to value justice and to behave with self-respect. But these qualities and habits are the final products of evolution We cannot have them until we have littlo by little achieved the things that precede thorn and produce them. Lot us not ho ■unreasonable or impatient. We have made progress. We are no longer mere howling, dirt-eating savages. ;.';SVo have attained affluence. We have begun to bo barbarians. One of these day & r our posterity may be civilised."

SCOTTISH CENSUS. The Glasgow Herald declares that the features of' tho Scottish Census of 1911 aro: ' (1.) The decline in the rural districts;! (2)-The practical stagnation in the large; cities; and (3) 'i'be rapid expansion of extra-urban; areas. . ■■ \ "The Lord Adrocate says that .accord-. jdc to the preliminary returns tho population given to Scotland is 4,759,521, or an actual increase in ten years of 287,418." "Wo are glad," says the British Weekly, to see that Scotsmen are laying to heart tho gradual depopulation of their country. Mr A. C. Morton, M.P.. for Sutherland,, describes in a striking way the present state of things. Sutherland is practically owned by four great, landlords, who disooaragei all effort to obtain new land lor ""crofts. Tho result is that the people cannot stay on tho land, and'" are obliged to go to tho cities or to Canada. In house after house you find the old-age pensioner or the solitary eoujile, but no stalwart, eon's or daughters. These have been lured away by tho emigrant posters which dangle before their eyes the promise of 160 acres in Canada. ' The farm labourer "believes thafc-aerosfi the sea there is a still' better outlook than at home, and Parliament, will not convince him that he is mistakou," »ay* the Times.

: -SCOTLAND ANOTHER IRELAND. "Scotland has suddenly awakened' to" the fact that she is in danger of becoming another Ireland," says tho Nation. "Between them the sheep-breeder of the eighteenth century and tho sportsman of the nineteenth and twentieth hu.vo done their work. Four years ago tho author of the Scottish Land Bill told his countrymen that a fifth part of the acreage of their land was given up to sport. Tho compilers of tho census returns are now writing out that thesis in terms of human life and national character! It is Ireland over again. Scotland has something worse than stagnation to fear; she has tho sense of a. deep wound in her national life, through which her beat blood is continually flowing. What she loses, Australia, Canada, and the United States gain. The passing generation of Scottish crofters and Irish cottars hare witnessed an identical vision of the flight of their youth and manhood, not merely from country to town but. lo continents and societies where free land and free citizenship have, acted as irresiatiblo lures to both. No 'wonder that a. country, full of the ]>ridc of nationality, feels the census returns as n blow struck in her face. Tho Scottish Land Bill has acquired a special urgency; today it is not only a symbol of the" popular case against the Lords, but a redoubtable engine for the salvation of a people, which no spirited Government would hesitate to vise."

DR. WM. BARRY ON PEACE. Dr. William Barry reviews Mr 0. H. Penis' new book on 'War and Peace" and Mr 11. Belloo's "French Revolution" in tho Bookman. Both are published in Williams and Norgatc's new. Is Homo University of Modem Knowledge. "In both writers," ho aays, "we feel the movement of ideas, tho presence of world-forces ' with which democracy will have to reckon, or through which it must, work out its doom. The idea, for instance, that peace and not war is the higher (in that sense the normal) state of mankind—how will such a thought find its place among tho ambitions, greeds, and necessities connected by the 'Battle of Life', a phrase not more significant to Darwin, the observer of science, than to Dickens, the looker-on at human tragicomedies? We can say, at all evcuta, that when we reach the final stago in this by no means fatiguing march through history, we have learnt how to discuss the problem of war and peace more intelligently-

"What is to lie tho next stadium on our march?" asks Dr. Barry. "Tins author holds that it will be the end of war. 'the organisation of a settled pcaee.' And so, from a struggle for food and family, the tribes of men will havo come out into an industrial, millennium, well-balanced aud self-supporting, a 'domestic and international peace.' O man, great is thy faith ! But suppose democracy, indulging its 'passion and instinct', should terminate its career by race-suicide? The -old Roman houses, patrician and nlebeian, did so. Will our civilised peace follow their example?"

CAN A FEEE PEOPLE BE FHEE? "A recent decision ef the New Yprk Court of Appeals declares that the Workman's Oomnensntiou Act is unconstitutional..uud th'w tlecisiou has excited inurl> discussion. We regard this decision as ot

very great importance, because, if the Court has correctly interpreted the stitution of the United States, 'that document prevents America from adopting an industrial reform which has been adopted as just and necessary by practically tho entire civilised world," writes the Outlook. "We do not believe that-'the interpretation of the Court is correct. It is, in our opinion, in conflict aliko with the progress of civilisation, tho spirit of democracy, tho principles of social justice, and the analogies and tendencies of law. And wo believe that thin unconscious attempt to fasten upon the wurking-man an unjust and intolerable burden from which all other civilised nations, With one exception, have relieved him, will ultimately prove as futile as was the conscious' and deliberate attempt of the United' States Supreme Court, under the lead of. Chief Justice Taney, to halt the movement for the emancipation of the slaves."

MEXICAN. LAND MONOPOLY. Mexico's troubles are aaid to be du» to'land monopoly. The Morning Albcrtan of Calgary,- which a correspondent has kindly sent us, states this on the authority of a Mr White:—"He owns a ranch some miles out of Hormosillo that consists of 87,000 acres of arable land. This'great; area of-land has beeu the camping ground for weeks, of bands of insurrectos. Though Mr White's property has been properly pillaged by the nibu,, "^hp. would overthrow the despot, Diaz, the Southern rancher's sympathies do not lie mill,the Mexican Government.

" 'The revolutionary force*,' said Mr. White, are made up for the greater part of sincere men, who have a real grievance. These men will fight until the bitter end. and the trouble in Mexico, thought to ha so unimportant by many observers, will not end until the rebels win their Cause.

"'Wli'mi it i» considered,' continued Mr White, 'that; more than'half the area of' Mexico lis lipld'fbr llwluonopoliHts, and wheu'/it iflHJjOiW!-in' mind that the poor '])o'o)il6'' axe starving because they 'are 'nftt allowed to occupy those lauds, then ono cannot but think kindly of the men who are fighting for their liberty.' "

WOMAN THE GOOD FAIRY. Baron d'Eskmrnellcs do Constant says that "in America and in the English colonics woman's triumph is comploto. In a country peopled by immigration the position of woman rises rapidly as tho result of tho spirit of libcrlv and of tho full exercise of her responsibility.' Sho could not live at all if the geneva 1 interoit did not protect her energetically against the rigours of the new environment. Through her are kept alive the memories of the distant fatherland, of the forefathers, of the new race; she is the Good Friday; sho represents comfort, to say nothing of charm. "It is not astonishing that she should turn this revci""il of position to her own profit and to V.:o profit of her children. Within a few years, I have seen the accomplishment of great advances in America in the education of women and of children, and as an inevitable consequence, in education toward Peace.

Nothing indeed, compares, in importance with this fundamental work.

"Woman now rules her husband, ind the child rules the household. This change is well illustrated by the charming story of an American grandfather at a family dinner. When asked if he liked the chicken's wing, he replied: 'I nave never tasted it. When I was a yortrigster it went to. our parents ;■ to-day it goes to our children.' "

“OF. THE SAME MIND." Hicse linen worn written; in her diary by Elizabeth, wife of The third Sir .Francis Drake, and have now boon published in “The/ Family and Heirs of Sir Francis Drake” .(Smith, Elder): “February, ISth, 11190, on a Tuesday, thou came Sir Francis and myself together. . I pray God send ns many happy years together, for I really love, honour and esteem him with all sincerity, nor do I question but be has the same resard for me." Monday, .Tune 16th, 1591, Thou wo set out for Devonshire and a dismal parting it was” (that is from her own people and friends in Loudon.) “1691. I am yet of the same mind." “1692. And I am yet of the same mind.” “1593. Thanks ho to God I am still the same.” “169-t. The same blessing is increased to me by his extraordinary love nd affection." “1696, Thursday, 9 o’clock in the morning, November 26. then was born George, ray fifth son. It has pleased God to bless mo with a bravo stock of sons. I earnestly pray him to give me Grnre and abilitv to train them in His Law and Commandments."