CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 121, 31 August 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

[ COLONIAL OILFI ELDS. Sir Bwerton Redwood, tho world's leading aStWrity on petroleum, in a preface to Mr. J. D. Henry's valuable new work, "Oilfields of the Empire," writes: "My professional Jife has synchronised with the creation of an industry whicli after supplying the civilised world with one of tho cheapest and most convenient illuminating agents, and a lubricant of unsurpassed quality for machinery, is now giving us a source of power which I lias revolutionised vehicular traction, . rendered the construction of the subj marines possible, added speed to steam--1 propelled and enabled us to j effect the conquest of the air. An agent so unique in character, through whose j aid so much can be accomplished which would otherwise be impossible of attainment is obviously a possession of the highest value, and a source of petroleum is a national asset the importance of which it is scarcely possible to overestimate." Mr. Henry, the author of the work referred to, writes the following passage:—-"We are . fast approaching a period of thoroughly well-justified faith in colonial oil undertakings. The secret results of preliminary investigations conducted by oil men of proved aMity and reputation in different parts of the Empire are known in small but influential circles to have 'been most encouraging. When we remember the numerous disabilities and disadvantages of oil-field proprietorship in some foreign countries, the high duties imposed on all kinds of drilling machinery, and the extraordinarily onerous character of the obligations of capital towards labor, it is satisfactory to hear that the British Colonial Office has promised to protect and wherever possible make easy the path of the pioneer. There should be a brisjht future for colonial oil." Mr. W. M. MacGarvey, one of the most powerful and interesting personalities in the petroleum world, who writes a preface to the book, urges that "the future safety and security of the Empire depends in no small degree on our securing within the colonies and dominions a large and reliable supply of petroleum for use on the warships of the Empire." Mr. MacGarvey ponts out that it is possible with the improved' Canadian system now in use in Galicia to put down wells to a depth of from 3000 ft to 4000 ft with such absolute safety and certainty that the percentage of lost holes has 'been reduced to sucih a i minimum that it is hardly necessary to I bring into the calculations of producers. This is indeed cheering news. The prospecting work in Taranaki has been 'beset with very great difficulties, but these have ibeen gradually overcome, until now we can honestly say that the field has been proved. No. 2 well at Moturoa has been flowing regularly since January, yielding about twenty barrels per diem, which is twenty-five per cent, greater than the average of the world's oil wells, while of a quality superior to any yet discovered. In a few months time it is more than likely that No. 1 and No. 3 will be producing as well as, if not better than, No. 2. Then the industry will ibe established on a solid footing. What this will mean to the town does not seem to be realised locally. But the possibilities are not feeing lost sight of by the oil men of Britain, who are following the development work now going on with the greatest interest. It is reported tliat their representatives will Ibe here early in bhe new year and that they will commence operations on their own account. Their arrival will be heartily welcomed, for the more the field is exploited the better it will be, and the sooner it is done will the benefits accruing from the industry ibe felt by all sections of the community.

THE CHANGING EAST. Most people speak as if with authority of "The Unchanging East," and it is a little disconcerting, therefore, to find Sir Robert Bredon, the Acting-Inspector-General of Chinese Customs, who is now on a visit to Europe, talking placidly of the many psychological, social and industrial changes which are taking place in China. The Celestial Empire has always been regarded as the most immutable and immobile factor in what is referred to as the Far Eastern proiblem, and the fact that it is awakening to the value of modern civilisation is a matter of some moment to the world. The world at large, according to Sir Robert Bredon, cannot continue to treat China as a negligible quantity, either politically or industrially. 'She has a homogeneous people, of many millions, a large percentage of whom are now fully alive to the potentialities of their race iand country. Remarkable changes have ibeen made in the outlook and the habits of the people since the Russo-Japanese war and the Boxer rising. The city of Pekin, for instance, re-built on the most up-to-date European models, and the old, unpaved, methitic thoroughfares are giving place to spacious macadamised roads. An adequate and pure water supply has replaced the old surface wells, and the primitive sedan chair has given way to broughams drawn by well-bred Australian horses. Apart from this the oldtime mules and donkeys have been replaced iby thousands of comfortable rickshaws. The police of the larger cities ajo been reorganised on modern lines, and even the native Press has adopted both a European dresa and a European style. To add to this there is a new demand for schools with a more extensive and more liberal curriculum. In fact, the whole value and power of Western knowledge appears to have .been impressed upon the East with a vividness that is fraught with immense social and political possibilities.

DANGER. The most recent contribution to the discussion on naval affairs is an article by Admiral A. T. 'Mjahon, the American strategist, published in the Daily Mail. It seems that Great Britain is onco more being warned against possible dangers. Insular democracies, says Admiral Mnhon, are lax and inefficient in prepimit ion for war. "The menacing feature in (lie future," he declares, "is the apparent, indisposition and slackness of (he new voters of the last hiilf-eeuturv. over against the, resolute spirit, ami livimoii dous faculty for organising Hlren.-Ili evident in Germany." lie pvoreeih lo trior to tilh reorganisation ( .f ji,.. I'iifi.ii

Navy. lie believes thai ilie policy of concentrating the battle fleet in home waters is wise, and that the relative abandonment of the Mediterranean, if for the moment only, is sound strategy. The ] Atlantic Fleet may lie regarded as a re-1 serve, able to move eastward or north-' ward as conditions may demand. "But] the clear reluctance to acquiesce in pre-1 scut naval requirements," adds the Ame- 1 rican authority, 'is ominous of a day when the Mediterranean may pass out of j the sphere of British influence. pen;n-d ! round the British Islands exclusively. This will symbolise, if it does not at once accompany, the passing of the Em- i pire; for a hostile force in the Mediter-. ranean controls not only an interior line! —as compared with the Cape route—but i lan interior position, from which it is' operative against the Atlantic as well as in the Eaist. It is difficult to over-| state the effect of this upon the solidity of the Empire, for the Mediterranean! is one of the greatest central positions of the maritime world. A weakened Mediterranean force is the symptom that neither as principal nor ally may Great 'Britain be alble to play the part hitherto assumed I>y her in the great draunai of which the awakening of the East is thapresent act; while among the dramatis 1 personae are Egypt, India, Australia and i New Zealand.'' The weak point in Ad-} miral Million's criticism is that the Mediterranean contains no fleet that by any stretch of the imagination can be said to threaten British supremacy. When new. conditions arise, it will be time enough to consider the distribution' of the Navy.

STATE AID. Mr. H. A. Campbell, a labor leader, recently made these remarks: "When a squatter's horse is ill a Government ' vet.' is sent post haste to his assistance. When a farmer's orchard! is 1 afflicted with blight, a Govern-1 ment expert goes post haste to the place. of the trouble. But when a poor man's wife is in childbirth, she can lie there and die. This is called an advanced age, but where is the advancement when animal and vegetable life are placed be- ! fore human existence ?" The allegation 1 that beast and vegetable life is placed before human existence by the State is of course not a fact. The State's busi- ( ness is to arrange matters so that the ibest may be done for all its people/ The State does not regard a farmer's, horse as of more importance than the _ fanner's wife, but it may send a veterinary surgeon to diagnose a disease, in order that the horses of the people belonging to the State may not be affected, j So far .from being behindhand in the' matter of attention to the people, the .State has taken every precaution tio i stamp out human disease wherever it is, found. Although medical men are not paid State servants, they serve the country by notifying disease and by taking particular care that diseases dol not spread. There is no analogy between an inspector being sent to deal with potato blight and State medical men being sent to attend maternity j cases. Unless all doctors and nurses were subsidised by the State, or were civil servants receiving their salaries from the Government, it would be impossible to| cover the ground. It is not true thatj the State wilfully allows a woman to I die for lack of medical attendance, and there have been State maternity homes! for some years. If it were feasible to send State aid to individual cases, in place of bringing; the patient to State! aid, it would be better to draft a feasible | plan than to blame the existing system,! or lack of it. The real fact is that there | is no woman so poor in New Zealand' that she is beyond expert medical aid.; The system of district nursing, the institution of Plunket nurses, the devoted! work of women who are trying to revive j a natural instinct in maternity and the' care of children, all prove the untruth that beasts and vegetables claim the' most attention. If there -are numerous cases where the worst has occurred' through lack of expert aid, the State is' certainly, not to blame. New Zealand' has the healthiest population in the world, as shown by the fact that the; death rate is the lowest known. The State is doing all it knows to keep this splendid record intact. In order that j the Sitate should take even a larger in- > terest in maternity, it would be necessary that coming maternity should be notifiable—and there are difficulties. > The proportion of fatal cases is small,' and the State's chief concern is in the general health of the community. It is putting up a great fight for the stamp-j ing out of ■consumption. The general health and common understanding of primitive things—the revival of instinct, in short—would mean that medical help, either by the State, iby private practitioners or devoted women, would be less necessary. Any accusation that the State deliberately neglects the mothers of children in order that it may attend to calves and foals is quite undeserved.

TRAINING WANTED. In both New Zealand and Australia—thanks to Lady Plunket, Dr. Truby King and (in Australia) to the Countess of Dudley and helpful medicos —much more is .being done for mothers than in Britain. The New Zealand Society for the Protection of Women and Children has done notaible work, and it is unquestionable that it lias saved hundreds of infant lives and done immense good in the way of ensuring the health of their mothers. At the Women's Congress held in London last month one of the speakers (Mrs. Despard) advocated, in view of the lamentable ignorance that now exists, the establishment of school clinics, where mothers could attend and be taught to properly rear their children. At school, under the present system of education, children are taught cooking, for instance, tho leetuvor complained, with all kinds of beautiful and expensive utensils, who in their own homes have nothing more advanced to work with than a frying pan. In wifehood and motherhood, which should bo prepared for, they receive no training whatever. "1 wish," Airs. Despard went on to say, '•that we could train nil girls to think that they may bo the mother of some .great one. Not oven the most elementary things are they taught in relation to these matters." In furtherance of Mr*. ,l)esptml's proposal. Mr. F. G. Mackoroth next- spoko on "The Training of Ciirts ns Children's Nurses," saving that child-tending should not be a "blind alley" oivn|mt ion for girls, and describing a training institute which is proposed to he established by the Women's Industrial Council, which will be a creche,: clinic, training institution, and school for mothers combined. The people who suffer the keenest disabilities in this regard in New Zealand are those who are far' from towns, but as an offset to these disabilities the physically strong are more frequently found in the Iback country. Extensions of the present systems, Ibotter education and the dissemination of litem two and lectures on tho subject will do a, .great deal to make the race remember ils instincts and to minimise (In- anomalies that may exist.