The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3. 1908. THE SHRINKAGE OF THE WORLD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2079, 3 January 1908, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 3. 1908. THE SHRINKAGE OF THE WORLD.

In considering the achievements of the year that have now become a memory, one’s thoughts quickly turn to the success of the Lusitania in racing across tho Atlantic at -a pace faster than had hitherto been attained by an ocean liner. The incident intensifies one’s perception of that shrinking of the world which lias steadily been going on for tho last 50 years, during which, speaking broadly, the globe has practically been reduced to one-third it a size. The event and its undoubted significance are discussed in a most- interesting manner by the London ”.Spectator,” which remarks: —“When we reach America in three days we shall reach India in seven, and Hong Kong in twelve, and shall have, of course, by degrees, new ideas of ilie distance of these places from us. That must be admitted to be ‘progress' in a sense, and certainly realises something of the prophecy in Daniel: ‘Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall bo increased.’ " As our contemporary, however, points out, there is a political aspect to the now situation that must not be overlooked. For instance: —"It will not be a source of amity, but rather of distrust, to know that France or Germany possesess the means of transporting fifty thousand men — say in thirty ‘Fiusitan fins’—within the half of one daylight to the shores of Britain; while if Russia or China could ■accumulate armies within two days’ journey of India Lord Kitchener would demand and obtain double tho forces of which he now i j.-.sesses the command.” There is another view that demands thoughtful consideration. The world is making progress, and man is naturally proud of his powers, but where is the progress taking us to, and is this speed demon really as potent a world force as many imagine? The “Spectator” on this aspect reminds us that it is something else than a quick steamer which will pour illuminating thought into the Asiatic mass, or supply Africa with the convictions necessary to break up the evil lethargy in which for three thousand years the richest of continents lias been sunk. AA'e assume too readily that the grand obstacles to civilisation are physical, and forget too readily that a tyrant may drive a motor car and a voluptuary sleep away existence in a cushioned steamer crossing tho ocean at fifty miles an hour. Men were still driving ships with the help of the wind and by the power of their own muscles when St. Paul set out on his mission, and the fate of half the world was iscd when Columbus set sail in boats which a Newcastle collier of to-d-i.v would despise' as a means of conveyance for his coal. After all. we come back to the pliiloooiiliy of old Carlyle, who declared cynically that time and space were simply rynboh, of thought which existed mainly for the purpose of clouding our vision, and if we wish to arrive it a true conception of tlie world’s progress we must not givo too much prominence to physical manifestations of human activity.