The Week in Review

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 24, 9 December 1908, Page 1

The Week in Review

' New Zealand has experienced several eharp earthquake shocks lately, though, fortunately, but little damage has resulted. But Professor Nowaek prophesies a great upheaval in the neighbourhood of Wellington in 1911. Mr. Massey and his friends have been making similar predictions, but they look forward to such a gigantic shock that the whole Government will be unseated and the Opposition will occupy the vacant benches. From the strong hold which Sir Joseph Ward’s party has on the country, it looks as if nothing short of an earthquake jvould suffice to shift them. The learned Professor, however, bases his conclusions on scientific deductions and investigations. He has discovered a weather ■plant which enables him to make accurate forecasts of impending disasters. He has also made several charts of the movements of seismic disturbances, and lalso of barometic pressure, and the phenomena of the sun known as sun spots. By these means he claims to be able to indicate the exact spot where an earthquake is likely to occur. The plant on which he so much depends is peculiarly sensitive to atmospheric changes, and it becomes violently agitated by sun spots. The leaves curl or point upwards ■ down wards as the case may be, and ach movement has a definite significance. We might be the more inclined to dismiss the Professor’s ideas as fanciful were it not for the disquieting fact that he lias been singularly lucky, or, as he would probably phrase it, singularly accurate, in his many predictions. Some 14 years ago he deposited a plan of the earth with the Meteorological Office in London, giving dates and places when and where volcanic disturbances could be expected for a period of years ending 1910. Amongst those shown were the outbreaks at Martinique, Jamaica, San Francisco, India, Turkey, and Valparaiso. Many prominent scientific men believe that there will be an enormous earthquake in the neighbourhood of New Zealand in the near future, and the Professor's confident forecasts, joined to recent seismic disturbances, are anything but reassuring to persons of a timid dis; position, whilst- even the bravest might do well to be prepared. The action of the. House of Lords in rejecting the Licensing Bill was, to say the least of it, ill-advised- The bill was an honest attempt to deal with an admitted evil, and the time limit after which all compensation would cease was Sufficiently generous to satisfy any reasonable person. Of course, immense • financial interests are involved, and in some particulars the bill could have been amended with advantage. It has also encountered a certain amount, of opposition from prominent temperance advocates, like Sir Robert Anderson, who is a recognised authority on all matters dealing with hotel licenses. There is no reason to suppose that the bill as sent up to the Lords was considered. perfect even by Mr Asquith, but it would have been far better had the Upper House suggested reasonable amendments instead of rejecting the bill in its entirety. For no one can deny that if the State grants licenses, the State should have the power to control sueh licenses, due regard being paid to those who may have any claim for compensation. It is round this quea-

tion of compensation that the fight has mainly raged, but the Government had shown its willingness to deal with the matter in a generous spirit, and questions of detail could doubtless have been amicably arranged had they been approached in a fair and judicial manner. J* Ji Even the most zealous total abstainer at Home admits the great difficulties that beset the path of any legislator who attempts to grapple with the thorny question of temperance reform. Prohibition could never be carried without women’s suffrage, and the Pankhursts have not yet succeeded in winning a vote for their sex. The total abstainers only number about 1 in 10 of the electors, and the problem confronting statesmen is as to what can be carried through Parliament with sueh a volume of public approval behind it that it will be accepted and vigorously administered as the definite expression of the will of the nation. For 35 years no Liberal Government was able to carry to a second reading a Licensing Bill for England, and Mr Balfour’s bill, carried on his “khaki majority,” did little or nothing to solve the difficulty. During the last half-century earnest and enthusiastic temperance workers, when they have had governments in power which were committed by their election pledges to legislation on this question, have so strenuously and persistently insisted that the measure which should be introduced must be one which contained proposals which each Ministry in turn was convinced could not be carried, that extremely little could be accomplished. Mr Asquith’s Bill was the best proposed so far, and it is to be hoped that something may yet be done to give effect to its main principles. Ji Ji The rejection of the bill by the Lords has re-opened the question of the reform of the Upper House. Even the hereditary peers themselves feel that sometiring ought to be done in the matter. The total abolition of a second chamber is altogether too drastic a measure to find much favour in a country so conservative as England. People at Home are very loth to radically change the English Constitution, the product of so much slow growth and gradual change. But it is being increasingly recognised that the Upper. House should be an aristocracy in the best .sense of the word, and should contain the leading men in the world of science and of letters, as well as those who represent our old feudal nobility. That some change will be made appears certain, and it is highly probable that it will be in the direction we have indicated. The Wanganui Board of Education is faced with a rather puzzling problem. It appears that facilities for technical education —'buildings, equipment, apparatus, and material —have been provided at great cost to the country, and their maintenance also involves considerable expenditure. But pupils are lacking, parents do not seem eager to take advantage of these excellent arrangements for the training of their children, and the question is what ought to be done to ensure a greater attendance. Obviously, if our young people do not want technical education, there is only one possible remedy for this state of affairs—they must l» compelled to go to technical schools by legislation. The thing is so simple that we wonder it was not thought of Jong ngo. The Wanganui Board has accordingly passed the fol

lowing resolution: “That the Minister be asked to consider the advisability of bringing »in legislation regarding all young people residing within reasonable distance of a technical school to attend on two evenings per week, at such continuance or technical courses as may be provided for them; and that for the furtherance of this proposal the co-opera-tion of the other boards of the Dominion be sought, and that a copy of the board’s report be forwarded to each board and ■to the Education Department.” The •Board’s grammar expert was presumably absent on leave when the above was drafted, but the meaning is plain enough, and the Wellington inspectors cordially endorsed the proposal, and suggested further measures in the same direction. This is quite in accordance with modern views. If people want a thing they must be stopped from getting it; if they don t want a thing they must be made to take it. So far. of course, all is plain. One of two members of the Wellington Board of Education, in considering the proposal, made some faint protest against interfering with the liberty of the subject, but that is too old an argument to carry any weight. It is quite evident that if our young people don’t go to the technical classes it is because they don’t want to go, and if they don’t want to go the law should step in and make them go. The principle is at once so excellent and so simple that it might well be extended with advantage. Auckland spent a large, sum of money in building a house for the Admiral to live in. When it was built the Admiral said quite plainly, in his bluff sailor fashion, that he didn’t want to live in it. A law should have been passed to compel him to take up his residence in the mansion so generously provided for his comfort and convenience. Similarly, with the Hansard reports of Parliamentary debates. These cost a lot of money to print, and it is to be feared that but few people either read them or want to read them. If everyone was compelled to go twice a week to hear these scriptures read and expounded, members would feel that their oratorical efforts were not being wasted, and the whole tone of our national life might be raised. Compulsory attendance at technical schools is only one step in the direction of regulating our lives. When anything is provided for us by a generous Government at great cost to the country, if we are ungrateful enough not to take advantage of it, we should be compelled to patronise it. Under the system advocated by Socialists the matter would be greatly simplified, as the rights of the individual and the liberty of the subject would no longer be allowed to bar the way. Madame Clara Butt and Mr. Kennerley Rumford had a unique experience recently, when they gave a concert at Brixton gaol. They arrived at the prison in their motor car, and were escorted by the governor to the chapel, where their audience was assembled. There were between COO and 700 prisoners present, al! men, and no applause was allowed. Madame Butt sang “ The Promise of Life ” and “Abide with Me,” and her husband sang “There is a Green Hill Far Away” and “ Nazareth,’’ while together they gave the duet, “ Night Hymn at Sea.” Many distinguished singers give their services for hospitals, workhouses anil even asylums, but it is not often they think ofvisiting our gaols. And yet so much might be done if our prisons were made more reformative and less punitive. Punishment by itself more often hardens than converts. Necessary it doubtless is to the preservation of society, but othermeans are needed for the regeneration oi society, and we can conceive of few things more calculated to do good in this direction than the influence of high class music rendered by artists so capable and no sympathetic as Madame tiara Butt and her talented husband.

Much of the credit for England’s firm altitude during the Balkan crisis is undoubtedly due to Sir Edwi rd Grey the Minister for Foreign 'ffairs. Many consider him to be the best Foreign Miniate, that we have had for several years past He had an excellent training as Luder .Secrotary during the Liberal Government ol 1392 5, and his firmness, tact, and judgment so conspicuously displayed in his recent treatment of difficult international questions, have confirmed the high opinion then formed of his abilites. lie is one one of the many distingushed statesmen who were educated at Balliol, the present Premier being anothe”. The curious thing ir. that he ha a great distaste for political life, and is far happier in the world of sport. He is a noted tennisplayer, and has won both the M.C.C. and Queen’s Club tennis prizes. He is also one of the finest fly-fishers in England, and his book on Fly-fishing is recognised as the standard work on the subject. Gladstone said of him, “I have never re membered so signal a capacity for Parliamentary life, and so small a disposition to it. High character, rellectiveness, a sound intellect contribute to his Parliamentary power.” His skill in pt-yv-ing his fish may be part of the same skill that he has recently displayed when angling in Balkan and German waters. England, at any rate, has no reason to be dissatisfied with the results. Ji Ji Captain Dojninik, of the German Army, has performed a feat hitherto re garded as impossible. He has succeeded in capturing, alive and unharmed, three fully grown gorillas, and there is no authentic record of any other capture of an adult gorilla. The difficulty of capturing these animals is immerse, owing to the fact that they lead a nomadie life in almost inaccessible forests and morasse, infested with fevers, and surrounded by hostile savages, ami. above all. io their skill in climbing trees. I’he orang outang is captured by Hie simple process of making him drunk and drag ging him into a wicker eage. 'but the gorilla is a prohibitionist and a deter mined fighter. During the hunt on ■ of these animals killed three natives, and another tore off and devoured a man's leg. The three who wore eventually taken were captured by throwing nets over them and holding them down with long forked poles. The sport serins io have been sufficiently exciting to gratify the most exacting tastes, lint we doubt if many will be found desirous of emu lating the intrepid German. d* New Zealand is not the only country which neglects the graves of its illu-tri ous dead. The Italian newspapers hate recently drawn attention to the neglect' d condition of Virgil’s tomb, which is situ ated on Hie hill of Posillipo. at N'.iple-. It is visited only by a few solitary pilgrims, and the grotto in which the great poet rests is daufp and dirty, uneared for. and almost forgotten. There i- very little doubt as to Hie genuineness of the tomb still shown to travellers, as we know that he was buried, as was the custom of the Romans, by the side of the public road leading out of Naples to Puteoli, More than any other writer of ancient times, Virgil lias in II none 4 our own lit ere ( uro. Spenser may be -aid io be full of \ irgil. Tennyson be'tniv. the inllmuce in every line cf him wham ho so aptly describes as “the wielder of the stateliest measure ever moulded hv the lips of nuiri.’*’ Now that attention has been Called to th? mutter, we do not doubt that st ps will be taken to erect a permanent memorial to mark Hie last resting place of the singer t ,t ]oft: Ilion. Ilion.

’Englishmen, who have fl horror of hasty legislation, must sometimes envy tin- rongharidready way in which the colonies dispose ot dillieiil question* 4 . Wo solve the licensing matter by giving no compensation at all, thu* barring the door on all discussion a* to time limits and amounts and levies. Similarly, wc dismiss the question of religious education by giving none at all. But the House of Commons rejected the secular solution by 41-4 votes, ami it has been Irving to evolve a hill that shall do justice to all parties. It is must sincerely to be regretted that Mr Runcimaifs statesmanlike measures failed tv lx* carried by reason of the action oi the extremists <m both sides. It was tar and avvuy the best and fairest Education Bill that we have had as yet. and while remedying many injustices of Mr Balfour’s Bill, it was not so neglectful of the just claims ot church schools as were the proposals of Mr Birrell and Mr McKenna. Englishmen are tolerant uf delay. tolerant of long discussion and repeated failure, because they are intolerant of anything that savours of injustice or interference with the rightful liberties of the subject. A new country want" to make the pace and show the, World how easy it is after all to dispose of dill’n ult questions. Bui it is questionable vv het her we have the same traditional lovp of true liberty and justice to on< class is often secured at the cost of gro-s injustice to another. d* Speaking al the half-yearly meeting of the Bank of New Zealand last Friday, the chairman (Mr Beauchamp)- stated, that the protits of the bank for the six; months ended 'september 30 were exceedingly satisfactory, and he confidently anticipated a like favourable result for the current financial year. The bank has pursued the policy of .accumulating largo reserves in preference to paying large dividends, and this has done much to inspire public confidence in the institution. The (hairman dwelt on the temporary financial stringency, and expressed the opinion that the strong demand for our eta ph* products and the rise in tin* priceof wool and other pastoral and agricultural products, would soon redress the balance of the financial market in our favour; and the relative scarcity of money would be repaired as soon as ever the effects of the present upward movement in market value had had time to make itself felt. This optimistic outlook for the future should be a sufficient answer to those who ha.ve been making ominous and pessimistic predictions regarding the- financial condition of Ihe colony. J* It seems a little late in the day to refer to the winning of the Davis Cup, but the news arrived last week while the portion of the paper containing these notes was al readv in the press, and our congratulations to the Dominion in general. and lawn tennis players, ami Wilding in particular, had of necessity to be held over till this issue. For it would indeed be ungracious and unfitting were biieh a feat t<» pass without some gralulatory remark. Wilding, by his brilliance stud endurance, vv rested tin* ( up almost, out of the verv grasp of the gallant American*. The defeat of the supposed.y invincible Brookes — idol of Australian tennis player* seemed to make its possession .i certaintv for the_ Eind of the bdar* ami Stripes, and il is a- proud thing for the Commonwealth ami New Zealand that they should have, in face ot *o Homeric a light as that set up by Amcri a. been able to hold their own and retain the I up. showing that it is not only in football that the be*t nun in this part of the world can mure than hold their own with Ohl World champion*. Il is a pity the British Lav\n Tcnni* Association should have been suddenly shaken with a spa*m of niggardlyji< ss uliieh caused them to refrain from sending a team to \n*tralia to compete lor the < up. but vve are proud to believe that had they done so the result must have been the same. Brookes and Wilding competed lor the (up in 1*305, and won much kudos, and tried again in I’.nid, ami it was not till last year they ceded in gaining the much -desired trophy. That they should have succeeded in retaining it again is, as we have said, a feat of which every one of us may feel justifiable pride.