CURRENT TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 71, 2 July 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS

SHOWING BRITAIN THE WAY. Quite naturally the British statesman is liable to see things colonial through magnifying glasses. Lord Curzon, for instance, 'has mentioned that compulsory military service is obligatory on every ablebodied man in New Zealand. If this were true, it would give us an excellent army. As it is no,t true, it is unfortunate that our Imperial intentions should be overestimated. Unquestionably, Lord Kitchener, who is tlie rfeason for the new scheme, thought when lie left this country that 'his advice would be taken, and that the State would not make sonseripts of merely a small proportion of the "livelier blood'* that flows in tlu* viens of colonials, and appears to sup pose that the people have gladly accepted the idea of compulsory and universal service. That they have not rVmr so is, of course, quite obvious. When, the territorial force is established on the lines of "plenty of exemptions," the force will be proportionately smaller Hurn. the British territorial force, even though the Wood of the Britisher "nurses more slowly through his vr-i is. These British statesmen either do not understand' what we are doing*;or tliey

deliberately misrepresent the true raets in order to shame British citizens into military service. There is to be no compulsory military service in New Zealand, except for some young men. The compulsory scheme is 7iot to be general, and therefore is not ''universal service." The territorial is a volunteer in a new kit—that is all. He as not compelled to-be a soldier, but having become one he must serve his term. If the officer commanding territorial units is not able to keep the establishment up to the minimum strength, he may possibly call on the small compulsory training section to fill up vacancies. Under such circumstances he would have two classes of soldiers at work—men who were forced to be soldiers, and men who were not conscripts in any sense of the word. The British statesman ought to be told that the new scheme in New Zealand is not universal, that it is compulsory only in a very small degree, and that the people as a body have shown no enthusiasm of any kind in the matter. As far as the average citizen is con-! cerned, the New Zealand defence force is exactly in the same position that it was five years ago—that is to say, there! are from twelve to fifteen thousand men and boys under arms. j

WIRELESS.

Marconi, the young wizard of wireless telegraphy would have been burnt at the stake if our unenlightened fore fathers had been introduced to him'. As it is, it seems likely that he will 1 /go down to history as the man of.the century who has achieyed the greatest' good for his fellows. The patient work I of Marconi's predecessors make the 1 achievements of the "wizard" easier' than they would otherwise have been., The marvels of electric telegraphy and telephony, although minor to the| wonders of "wireless," still are as surely related, as George Stevenson's "Rocket" is to the 'great railroad locomotive of to-day. That "wireless" an-j nihilates space has already been proved.' Just as it is possible to hear by euec-j trie telegraph what took place in Britain a few hours ago, so will it bei possible by. means of the new wonder to speak to the uttermost ends of the world without any visible intermediate means of carrying the message. YescerI day we learned that the steamer Zea. I landia kept in conversational touch while far out to sea with both Africa I and England, and that she was abie to

obtain Greenwich time for several cays| on her course. If the Zealandia nadl been in distress it would have been| easy for her to have communicated with any other ship having- wireless paratus. The system minimises the chance of loss, increases the chances of life, and will, we supnose, ultima-oelv supersede the electric telegraph. With the promotitude that is generally grudg-" ins-ly acknowledged to Britain and her rulers, we are already promised an. Tm-l ppria! system of wireless telegraphv. The possibilities of this strange, srlent, uncanny element, which will alter the, whole process of communication i throughout the world, are boundless. It does awnv with the,cumbrous gear. In international strife it will be a deter-1 mining factor. An encmv cannot out' wireless. He may intercept a message, but it would probably be useless to him. Because the agp is enlightened, Marconi his had fewer difficulties in prov-j ing the. inestimable value of his sys-j tem than almost anv inventor of a world-changing device. The govprnments did not say to him. as the Rrit-I isb Government said to the inventor of t electric telegraphy, "There is absolutely no n»Cf>ssit< T for anv change in thp me-! fhod of sending messages." It is within the bounds of possibility that in the near future a man will be able to earrv bis nopamtus with him, that the of the neriod will speak to us from the farthest rorrh. and Scott from the| fartbos* en'ith. There will be ■no "terra-! incognita" "•I'p.n radio-telegraphv is perfectly annli'pd find generally used. j