NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 625, 30 September 1909, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY.

.The statement by Sin Oliver Lodoe that the remarkablo magnetic disturbance which, has been experienced in various partsof the world during the last few aiiyß is'duoto solar radio-activity reveals one mote Utile m that marvollous chain jsrhicii* binds tha miivprm together. The

old, astrologers taught that the stars in their courses exercised a controlling influence oyer the affairs of men, and modern scientists tell a similar storv, though the facts upon which it is based arc, of course, fundamentally different. Newton s great discovery,of the law of-gravi-tation was an epoch-making step towards tno realisation by the human mind of tlic oneness of the .universe.- The connection, between sun-spots and commercial panics is now a comparatively old theory, and more recently earthquakes and other terrestrial disturbances have also been traced by some scientific authorities to solar, causes. The discovery of radium and its. wonderful properties has opened a new world for investigation, and the knowledge thus acquired has' provided further reasons for'belief-in '- tho interdependence of all material things; and It <. n cal thcol 7 of the universe— that all matter is made solely of-electric-ity—proves to bo tho most probable explanation of things, ,as many scientists hold, it will supply the crowning proof of the unity of Nature.' To quote a passage from "Scientific Ideas of To-day," wc Picture all matter, whether it bo-a valuablo diamond or a nauseating gas, to be composed of atoms, and these atoms are nothing more or', less than little spheres, of positivo electricity'. within which tiny units, of negative electricity are constantly revolving in certain definite orbits, the one atom only, differing from another in the number and arrangement of its. negativo' units or olectrons." The consideration of such ideas as these helps one. to appreciate Me. Balfour's declaration from the presidentiaPchair of tno British Association *nhat so bold an attempt to'unify physical nature excites feelings of the most acute intellectual gratification.' The satisfaction it gives iis almost aesthetic in its intensity and quality. We feel the same sort of pleasurable shock, as when from the crest of some melancholy pass we first see far below us the sudden glories of, plain, rircr, , and mountain." ' - '

j . The. Government will do well to take note of Mr. S. Carroll's observations upon.tho inadequate and slovenly method iiv which the official, trade statistics are prepared and published in this country. Oil his visit to Sydney Mr. Carroll found that shippers are kept very sharply uj. .to the mark in the matter of entries on goods exported. In Wellington, on the other hand, "a shipper might get a reminder ten days after he had shipped goods, but nothing serious came of it if neglected a little, longer.' As a result, the Government's monthly leaflet on exports is declared by Mr. ■ Carroll, who is a good authority, to be unreliable Moreover, the Government does not issue monthly returns of the imports i the only import statistics which it publishes appear, annually,: and then, some months after the year' is ; closed. ' Statistics', have never: been a strong point with the Government—statistics, that is to say,-which summariso actual facts, and which are really required by tho some attempt should, be made- to do the thing aa well as it is done in New South Wales. Every day makes it more important than ever, that-, the commercial community and the public generally should have full and up-to-date particulars, of the ebb and How. of trade., -.-..' "■.'-. '';- ■"■""' '.""

From Liverpool comes news of a little incident bearing upon the liberty of the Press which we feel should be ■ ■■ brought under the notice of, thoso. who..-not. only sought'last year. to.gag the.'Press and de-. stroy the right of puolic meeting, but who have darkly ,hinted at legislation which' will restrict newspaper 'cprn.raerits.:. t 'upon pubHc affairs. A certain'public meeting was to be held, and.tho Head Cohstablo of Liverpool forwarded the managing director, of, thq Liverpool Gowned a'lctter. ; warning :hira that if ho-published advertisements of the meeting, and if anything occurred at, the meeting which was "an offence against-the law," he would' bo prosecuted,for .the. publication of the advertisements "as being accessory to : the commission of that offence." The Courier published' the advertisements, and the meeting turned but to be an orderly gathering. The absurdity,' no less' than tho impropriety, of i : the Head Constable's threat is as obvious'as his action was u'n'pieeedcntcd.. If. he, had reason: to'fear that a public mooting would lead to disturbances he could prohibit -the holding of it. In any case,: it is'plainly absurd that, the authorities. should. permit the holding of a meeting'and yet forbid the advertisement ' : of : it. : Our Liberal fi'iends,may not agreo with this view and they will doubtless bo .greatly - disgusted to learn, from the comments of tho British newspapers, that the liberty of the Press is still regarded as a vory vital thing by Englishmen.- The Western Maili for example, said: "If the Liverpool Head.Constable's action is to bo taken as a precedent it will bo the most'serious blow that has been aimed for many: a year at' the frccdomof the British'-Press, and through tho Press at the freedom of the public itself. The right of free speech and- of public meeting is a sacred one, and lies at the very root of our : liberties." The Westminster Gazette, which is probably the leading Liberal newspaper in Britain, takes'the same view:"The Head Constable of Liverpool seoms to have been extremely ill-advised in: the action he has taken,; and wo are glad that an attempt to interfere at once with the •liberty of the Press and with the right of public meeting should have been treated with contempt," Dr. Findlay, who was the stauncliest ■defender ,of-,tho Government's proposal in the Second Ballot Bill j to curtail the howspapcrs' liberty of comment and the public's:right to assemble in orderly meeting, will doubtless bo able to give a- reply to the ''.Westminster Gazette as good as his reply to our contention that a heavy increase in taxation is'not a',dosirablo thing. We must wait for his views, we sunpose, until he moves thp second reading of the Bill, which has boon hinted at by Sir J. G. Ward, and which may be called tho Suppression- of Al! Mention of the Amount of the PubHe Debt and Other, Unpleasant Facts Bill. The advocates of this measure, by tho, way, have said' that Canada . has pr.sscd a Bill penalising tho publication of anything injurious to the Dominion's credit.-•• They have not mentioned that what Canada penalises is the publication, not of unpleasant facts, but of injurious ui.truths;about the country. But it is the plain truth that our' ''Liberal' 1 ' friends, most object to..