Notes

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 21, 22 May 1902, Page 18

Notes

The Girdle Round the Earth.

The New Zealand end of the new Pacific cable has been duly landed, and this Colony is now in telegraphic communication with a number of localities not hitherto within reach of the pulse that vibrates under the ocean. But it will take some little time yet to complete the chain that will connect the Australasian colonies with the Mother Country. The actual work of laying the cable between Australia and Britain via Canada will be begun towards the end of this year. The total length of the new cable, including 10 per cent. allowed for ' slack,' will be about 8000 nautical miles. The longest uninterrupted stretch is that from Kelp Bay. on the south coast of Vancouver, to Fanning Island, which is about 3561 miles. From Fanning Island to Suva, in Fiji, is 2093 mil^s ; from Suva to Nor. folk Island, 961 miles ; and from Norfolk Island to New Zealand 537 miles. It may be of interest to point out that even the electric spark is not superior to the obstacles created by distance. The time taken by a pulsation increases with the length of the cable in proportion to the square of the distance. For example, if it takes the signal one second to travel 1000 miles, it iwill take four seconds to travel 2000 miles, nine seconds to travel 3000 miles, and so on. Not

only is this so. but the carrying oapacity of a wire depends upon the dimensions of the 'core' and its insulating gutta-percha or India rubber. The thicker the copper wire and coating the greater the sp^ed The longest section of the cable— that between Vancouver and Fanning Island-will have a heavy 'core' and will carry seven or eight words a minute, and this will be the speed ol through messages By Dr. Muirhead's duplex system two messages, one from each end, pass through the wire at once, but this is not such a great gain as might be supposed, because only a few business hours in the day are common to the two hemispheres. On some land lines the quadruple* system is used, and by it four messages—two from each end— may pass simultaneously. No doubt readers have watched with interest the protracted negotiations that have led up to the construction of the Pacific line. It was primarily conceived for the purpose of getting rid of the monopoly created by the companies who owned the eastern lines, and of obviating the frequent interruptions arising on the immense stretoh of land line through the barren regions of Western Australia • There afterwards arose the additional necessity for an 'all red' line that would be solely under British control in the event of international war. The net result must be such additional security as a cable can afford in time of trouble, and a much cheaper me. dium of communication when times are peaceful.

Memorable Dates

The current week is more than usually pregnant with the recolleotions evoked by anniversaries of important events. Four years ago last Monday Gladstone, the greatest commoner of British history, closed a long and eventful life of nearly 89 years at Hawarden, and was laid to rest amid the tears of a nation. It is the fashion at the present moment to belittle the memory of Gladstone, and to attribute to his aotion the chain of events which are said to have led up to the present war in Africa. That, however, is a matter which history will set right, and Gladstone will be restored to that pre-eminence of distinction that his statesmanlike qualities deserve. It may yet be admitted that in the matter of Home Rule his instinct was right, and when that comes to be considered perhaps it may be seen that he was not so far wrong with respect to Africa. Tuesday was the anniversary of the death of Columbua, who after giving to the world a new continent in H92 died 14 years later. The history of Columbus is that of nearly all men of genius. And he waa the product of his time. The maritime nations of Europe, of which Spain was then the greatest had begun to ' feel ' the proximity of America. If, as is commonly believed, he set out to reach India, he must have known from his position that it was of immensely larger extent than supposed seemg that he was not then half way. Therefore the magnitude of the discovery, and the fulfilment of the dreams he had cherished despite all opposition, awed him the more. Sixty-two years ago on Wednesday New Zealand emerged into the sunlight of the nations as a Colony. Settlement dates from a period much earlier, but such administration «s there was came from the parent colony of New South Wales. The seat of Government was at Auckland, where the metropolitan fiction is still preserved by the maintenance of a viceregal residence. The proclamation of the Colony was the advance note of a wave of organised settlement by the New Zealand Company. That is only 62 years ago, and the pakeha maintained a precarious foothold on the shore, the interior, at all events of the North Island, being held by ferocious Maoris. Now the Maori and the pakeha dwell peaceably side by side. And there is room for sanguine hope that the aboriginal race will survive the contact with the white man that has hitherto been fatal. Had Queen Victoria lived until Saturday next she would have been 83 years of age. She died only last year, and already her birthday has been obliterated from the list of holidays.

Lord Hopetoun' s Salary.

Lord Hopetoun finds his position as Governor-General of the Australian Commonwealth untenable because his salary is only £10,000 a year, Parliament having deliberately refused to vote the additional £8,000 asked for by the Government. Lord Hopetoun, in asking for his recall after the Coronation, says he anticipates grave difficulties for his successors, as no allowance whatever will be given beyond the £10,000 per annum. He has been expected to pay the staff, visit the various States, pay all travelling expenses except railways, pay for lighting, fuel, stationery, telegrams, postage (other than official), dispense hospitality, and maintain the dignity of his position. In doing so he has strained his private resource,, beyond justification. At this juncture it will be of interest to quote the emolument given to some other men. The President of the United States, who rules over 70, million people, has an annual salary of £10,000, and the Vice-president £1600, or £150 a year less than the sum received by the secretary of the Wellington Harbor Board. The Governor-General of Canada receives £10 000 per annum, and the Premier £1600. The President of France' receivea

*24,000 per annum, with a like sum for expenses. The salary of the Governor-General of India is 250,000 rupees a year, which at the present rate of exchange is about £15,000 a year, and he is expected to maintain a Btate almost regal in its Bplendor. The emolument of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland is £20,000 a year, but he is necessarily compelled to entertain .largely and to maintain a large establishment. Judged by these standards, the saTary of Lord Hopetoun was neither extravagantly large nor exceptionally small.

A Visitor's Impressions.

Canon Dalton, who [was round the world as chaplain to the Prince and Princeßß of Wales last year, has been giving his impressions of the Australian colonies in a paper before the Royal Colonial, lnstitute. He 'noted the existence of a strong under current of republican aspiration in Victoria and New South Wales" though local statesmen discouraged it. In future wars it would be' less easy for the Australian States voluntarily to support Bricain owing to the fact that everything would depend upon the fiat of th Federal Minister of Defence.' Now. Canon Dalton may be righte and he may be wrong, but the point to be emphasised is that he had neither the time nor the opportunity to enable him to diagnose public opinion. His impressions must be the result of second-hand information, and therefore he should not dogmatise. We are not altogether unacquainted with the globe trotter who forms from a railway-carriage window his impressions of the country he passes through, and gives them to the world in a book. Such a one spends a week in Rome and another in Paris and later on unburdens his mind on the Pope and Continental life in the inevitable lecture. Nor are our visitors the sole offenders. Almost every colonist of any position does the same thing when he visits the older lands, and these ' impressions,' if gathered from the obscure prints in which they sometimes appear, would form an interesting collection. But we expect better things from a Canon selected for such a position as that filled by Canon Dalton. When expressing his individual opinion, however, the Canon was on safer ground He 'advocated a regenerated Imperial Parliament, consisting of 150 or 200 members, with colonial Jrepresentation, and Home Rule all round. This would, he considered, be a step towards greater unity. It would be possible to separate Imperial from national matters, as wellasitolkeep an open mind on the question of reciprocal trade relations.'