PUBLIC OPINION.

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1928, Page 3

PUBLIC OPINION.

•) INSPIRATION. “ When one realises that a remote thought seized by immense effort and brought into the light of full con‘v sciousness and experiment by a single |V thinker,- may raise the standard of 11 life of millions more than the discov- ’> cry of a new mineral field, or the ac- ’* quired skill of a multitude, can do, one sees that the development of an art of consciously stimulating creative ) thought on best lines may be the 11 greatest impulse to economic life. If a man by intense and dangerous > stimulation of .physical and mental powers can break into a new field of , possibility, and reveal it to the world, is be likely to make nice calculations of the prostration of the morrow? Everyone must have had periods in ’ his life when a spurt was worth, in ’ its results, any possible personal consequences, when he might do for the super-normal what lie would never at- ' tempt daily for the normal. Even the lethargic, who can see a great opportunity, and when it is seen rise to it with unstinted power, nmy be one of the world’s greatest benefactors.”—Sir Josiah Stamp, in his Rode Lecture, 1927, “ On Stimulus in the Economic Life.” WHO IS A WELL-READ MAN ? “ To whom are we to apply the title of ‘well-read man’?” asks the “Glasgow Herald,” and replies: “ The scholar proper must he excluded since literature is his business and not 'merely his delight; moreover, lie* too often finds a greater pleasure in discovering some new thing about- his period or author than in the humanities—to use an ' old term—which arc tho flow of all right reading. . . . Humility is not an undesirable virtue in the well read, for few men are more obnoxious than those who pride themselves on critical superiority and regard the possession of a knowledge of letters as a. mark of distinction. They miss the larger truth ( that to bo well lead is merely to be assured of sources of joy unknown to those less blessed. It implies breadth of outlook rather than depth of inquiry, - range of interest rather than intimate knowledge, catholicity of taste rather | than expert judgment. With these ( positive qualities goes almost inevit- | ably a measure of urbanity, a feeling of being at home when matters of larger human import are talked about, and a capacity of sympathising with the enthusiasms of those who are more definitely masters in one subject.” THE FUTURE OF LIFE. “The scientist works away in a little water-tight compartment; thus enclos- ] ed, lie arrives at certain more or less t definite conclusions, without stopping i to think what relation they bear to s the conclusions reached by scientists 5 working in their water-tight compart- c incuts. As a consequence it happens that the results reached by one science are often frankly inconsistent with those arrived at by another. Some of i tho conclusions of modern physics are, I for example, at the moment incompat- a ible with those of psychology,, so that c if what the physicist says about the <' world is true, what the psychologist P says cannot be so. Hence arises the a need of a clearing-house in which tho i results arrived at hv various sciences ■ can be pooled and collated, in order e that, looking at them as a whole, wo - c may be able to infer what kind of uni- " verse it is that we live in, and hazard 1 a guess at the destiny of human life e within. It is this function that pliil- t osophy performs, and that I shall seek s to perform in the following pages.”— n G. E. M. Joan, in his “The Future of u Life.” f: s» INFLATED CORPORATIONS. “ After the experience of recent times, it may reasonably be suggested that no combination of capital exceeding a prescribed amount should be permitted without the authority of Parliament. At present various institutions are under such a statutory restriction. For instance, railway companies cannot raise or increase their capital without the authority of Parliament, and they are also under restrictions as to the charges which they may exact. There appears to be as much necessity for bringing large industrial companies under effective control as there may be A in tlie case of the railways. Appnr- 3 entl.v what may be involved in our in- » dustries and commerce being dominated by a few powerful monopolistic oligarchies is not yet seriously realised, _ but it is time that serious consideration were given to such an extremely important mntter.”-=-“ W.A.” in the A “ Scotsman.” THE M.P.’S LOT. • ] Committee work in general brings r l little kudos to the individual, but it is the main work of Parliament, and the b services of some men in this respect p are worth ten times £4OO a year. The outsider naturally thinks that the de- T bates in Parliament are what matter most, and, from the point of view of I' Parliament being the National Forum, F he is no doubt correct, but in many S cases much unseen work in the way of investigation, research, sheer drudgery, has been done before the stage could be properly set. for the oratorical display. The’, member who merely - makes a practice of taking part in the debates and makes no contribution to all the other work, loses in influence with each 'speech he makes. A man can he an orator, but be cannot make a good House of Commons speech unless lie is "master of Ins subject, and he can only bo that by dint of hard work. The fact is that the more conscientious a member is, the less time he can give for sitting and speaking m the Chamber.” —Mr Jack Jones, M.P., in the “ Daily Herald.”

Mil CHUR CHILI. AND HIS BUDGET “You cannot have the new reliefs without the new taxes and the new reforms. .No one can pick the parts be likes out of this scheme, and reject the parts that do not- suit him. Every one who approves of the general plan must take the rough with the smooth. A„d there is rough as well as smooth in it. All holds together, and while considerable modifications in detail arc necessarily open, the policy must he supported or opposed, accepted or rejected as a whole.” —Mr Winston Churchill. THE CANCER OF denominationalism. “One-of the grave defects of the majority of church leaders, and especially of ecclesiastics, is that loyalty o the particular denomination is put in place of the supreme loyalty to the Lord and Master of us all. Too often the man who insists upon this supreme and-larger loyalty, and seeks full fcl lowship with all who own it, is suspected of disloyalty to his own particular section of the Church. There ‘ was a time, of course, when none af our names existed. There were no such people as Episcopalians and Presbyterians. There were not even bishops or elders, only disciples and believers and apostles. There will come a day either here or hereafter, when denominational labels will be known no more. If we could only concentrate on the main thing, we should probably find that denominationalism would take care of itself, or would bo taken care of, and everything of genuine worth in it would be preserved,”—Dr Charles Brown.