NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 570, 27 July 1909, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

In the-course of an interview which; Mr. W. T. Stead prints in the ■Review of Itcvicws, Sin Robert. Stout expresses an opinion which, although it shocks us by its novelty, is doubtless shared by other' New Zealanders: / . f "If—which God forbid—'Britain were to lose command of the . sea nnd Germany should tako her place,, then New Zealanders would not hesitate for a moment as to tlieir policy. They could Jiot defend their own independence against a. Qerman fleet which has wrested the trident from the hands of Britannia. But never will New Zealanders submit to foreign domination. Our course is clear." If Britain goes under. Greater Britain goes' <J ver at once to the United States of America. ... If by any disaster any foreign Power wero to dictate a peace in London which transferred New Zealand: to the conqueror, t!he next day we should hoist the Stars and Stripes, the only other flag save that of the Union Jack under which Now Zealanders could live." '.. > . : This is oxtromely comforting. But' would ■ America really hasten to embarrass herself by taking care of us?. And if America did accept us, what would be-, come of the industries that flourish by virtue of- the Customs barrier, against Amorican goods r Thereis really nothing to be gained, however, by talking of what we should do : in the event of Britain's downfall. It will be far more profitable tostrugglb back to that sturdy individualism which will alone give us strength to fight against circumstance and heart to face the possibilities involved in. disaster. ■ ■ .'' ■■ . ■.'.'■ . ■■■ ,

The account which wo published in yesterday's issue of,a boy's suicide in a school in .France Is' surely one of the most amazing happenings of the kind that has ever been recorded. A clique of fourteen-year-old philosophers get togctherTTonc of; them being an ardent student of Schopenhauer,;the,great pessimist—and deliberately decide upon suicide, tho whole thing' beiDg carefully planned and carried out in the most dramatic and cold-blooded manner.- At a New Zealand school such an occurrence would be absolutely .unthinkable. Indeed a boy who at the age of, fourteen read Schopenhauer or any .other philosopher ivould be regarded as little short of a lunatic. ' The. principal things a New Zealand boy plans are cricket and football matches, and perhaps how to dodge his "lessons or get an: extra..holiday. As for' suicide—well, he is just •'■ about ■-■ as likely to kill himself as-to read Schopenhauer. ..But- why. should a thing of this kind be possible in; France and impossible in New Zealand 1 , It is true that even among ourselves a highly-strung boy or girl might under pressure of illness or over-study commit suicide; but in the case /under notice 'we find a ■ number of boys ! deliberately . banded -together with apparently . the ; sole .purpose ■; of showing by'self-destruction their \contempt of. li|e.. It would,; of. cbursej; be foolish to pronounce: any opinion on a gfeat'nation, because: of a single incident, however shocking,' but the occurrence referred to is at any rate sufficient to make peoplo "think. ■It has been said that nations, go mad as well as individuals, and that France has never;quite regained her moral nnd mental equilibrium since! the great Itevolution. Then, again, the! passing of old beliefs - has been accompanied : by a weakening; of the •scntiineiit which regards each individual human/life as of. infinite, worth. Thcro is a philosophy ■which tells us that life is nothing but continuous! change—a ceaseless flux—arid which contemplates . everything, includ: ing ourselves, ;\"wb oneiVwholo'iiri -such.-a. way .that ; nb part lias any significa'nce,_for itsolf; but only as.passing into something olsot" From this point of View nothing matters, and. life has no^eaning!or purpose ; but, however' logical this' conception; may be, British common-senso ■ revolts against it, and human instincts and experionco arc on tho side of comnions6nse. As. a modorn .writer, puts -it: "Dif-, fioult though it be to justify: toth'e entical intelligence,- it is .the:present^reality of our oxistence expressed in our own sense of choice and freedom, of pleasure and pain, which isour guiding ,star> Without it our exporience might bbmore logical, but it would cease to bp experienco. Thie alono makes virtue' .'possible' or even thought real. Hore as elsewhere life is too strong for iheqry.",-/ Indeed; for the average British boy, life and tho joy of living are almost everything. This is natural and normal, and any- system of education which tends to undermine this supreme desire to live, or to develop morbid tastes'in life or literature'stands .splf-cbnderancd. ■'. Education and philoso-. phy must in the long runj like other things, be judged by thoir fruits.

1 The interesting news is reported by cable to-day, that the Duke of Connauoht has resigned his post as Field Marshal Commanding-in-Chief. the Mediterranean forces and as High Commissioner in the Mediterranean on tho ground that 'the office is a sinecure and. its maintenance an unnecessary expense. When the Duke was appointed in August, 1007, Mb.' Haldane'stated that the-creation of the new command would causo no increase of expense. Tho duties, as outlined by the War Minister, seemed to bo. quite important. They comprised the command of: the garrisons of Gibraltar and Malta, the detachments in Crete and Cyprus, and the British troops, in Egypt and the Soudan. The Field Marshal was to devote himself to the consideration of questions of strategy and defence within the limits'of ■ his command, and was to: be consulted on 'all questions .of military policy by the Foreign and 'Colonial Offices. If, as His Highness says, the post is a sinecure, there must have been either some curious ignorance, in.the War Office, or, some cUrious-idea as to the , duty, of the' Government towards members of the Royal Family. .; The Duke of Connaught has the reputation of being an enthusiast in his profession, and this probably accounts for his present attitude. It may be,taken as characteristic of the new British opinion that a member of the Royal. Family should relinquish in this way of his , own motion an important office on the ground that it gave him little to do and was an unnecessary expense to the nation. ; _

. A report explanatory of the delay in tho tram service on July 12 v/as' submitted to yesterday's meeting of tho Tramways Committee of the City Council, by :Mr.-, Stuart Richardson, City Electrical Engineer; Mr. Richardson reported that at 6.30 p.m. the current' Was off most of the lines, and cars were idle for 20 minutes., This was due to tho failure of the supply from tho power house, which failure was primarily occasioned by a phenomenally 1 low tide, which creatly diminished the condensing water supply, the engines having to be worked on the noncondenser. "Unfortunately," adds Mr. ltichardson, "tho plant' at present in uso is not equal'to. the demnnas made, upon it, with the result that tho supply of current had to be interrupted," Mr. Richardson said ho wished to draw attention to tho above, as it,.shows on what. a.small margin of power tlio department- has been operating, and also /demonstrates in' a. practical manner tho necessity for ordering the now plant which is now arriving, and ■in course ol orocUaa. .''". V . ■■''■ : ' ;. ;