MISCELLANEOUS.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 February 1928, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

■‘BOOSTING” BICHLIN. flaking an effort to rival American boosting methods in connection with the big propaganda campaign to the slogan of “'See Germany first,” the city of Berlin has conceived an original idea for nse in a music-loving nation A leading'composer of bright cafe melodies was commissioned to write a tuneful fox-trot, lor winch popular lyricists combined, as in usual, to supply a suitable text. "You must see Berlin once” is the refrain, which, in the Coue manner, is expected to do its work among provincials and \ iI - lagers. levely poison who has ever bought a piano m Germany during the last ten years will receive a cop\ of this work. ‘Jen thousand music teachers scattered throughout the l.eich will also lie sent a copy, Jot pianoforte only. I'bve thousand German orchestras will lie presented with an orchestral setting. Countless gramophone records have been prepared and arrangements made with the various broadcasting centres. The delights of Berlin are celebrated in the text. THE ONE CHILD FAMILY. Although Hungary’s birthrate is only surpassed by Italy in the west of Europe and Koumania in the east, the prevalence of the one-child ratio is being taken very seriously, and a law will probably shortly be proposed by which childless couples will forfeit part of their land to parents ol large families. To 2259 families owning large estates only 40 children have been horn yearly during the last live years, and in 20,500 families owning medium-sized esates the birthrate amount's to only 1.3 per cent. Ihe low birthrate is particularly marked in certain parts of the country, specially in Protestant districts, where the .standard of living is higher than among the Catholics, and consequently the peasants’ ambition to amass wealth is greater. In the neighbourhood of the River Tisza, out of 298,000 couples, 44,000 have no children and 10,000 have one child each. It is said that in the eomitat of Bnranya certain villages possess no single child of school age. In a recent speech in Parliament, Count Bethlon, himself a Protestant, suggested that the Protestant clergy should inaugurate a campaign against this system. A REASONABLE RELIGION. “A ‘reasonable religion’ was a religion which enabled us to give some account of the whole of experience,” said Bishop Gore, reports the “ Yorkshire Post.” ‘‘to find some clue to this strange and bewildering world. They were to be open-minded. They were to welcome the light. But it was not easy to welcome the light. It was not easy for a dogmatic theologian to welcome scientific light, but it was difficult for most of us to welcome the light about ourselves. There were very few people who eared to bring them own ugly selves into the lfelit, and that was a very dangerous kind of obscurantism. Science could teach us many things, and let them never go to a theologian to ask what was the truth about : science. Let them go to the experts about science, but temembei that thev were not the only experts. That was not the whole of human life. Ml human movement, all human pro-;,-ess had faith at the very base of it.