CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 311, 26 May 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

"MOVING PICTURE EYE." Nature is a stern mother. She is very harsh with members of her family who disobey her commands. Ilence doctors and medical science, which latter is sometimes the application of commonsense and a study of the old Mother's wishes. We advance quite a lot, we humans, and in our advance we do new things and make them. Nature in the beginning did not count on us being guided by anything but instinct, and she is always angry when we are. She probably got a shock when men invented steamships, but we forget whether she invented a disease in punishment. But it is alleged that when man rode bicycles Nature supplied him with a "bicycle face." She has certainly produced "motoritis," and cigarette heart and tobacco eye and aeroplane nerves, just as easily as she produced housemaid's knee and decayed teeth, because she did not intend us to walk 011 our knees or to forget to use our ivories. Precisely what we have done to get ''influenzal insanity" wc frankly don't know, but this cheerless disease was responsible for the death of an Austrian up north, and during the last few years there have been very numerous recruits to our mental hospital from the disease that so many people have to "work off." Professor Labv, lecturing the other day, mentioning that the principle of cinematography had been worked out tliirty years ago, said that half the population were spending their evenings watching' moving pictures. Of course, nature did not intend us to see moving pictures, but she will probably evolve a new kind of eye for us, seeing that we don't intend to knock off going to picture shows. The "moving picture eye" is already recognised by tiie scientists, who have also recognised that nature doesn't always know her own business. If a modern scientist had been alongside nature several million years ago when she was making her first human appendix he would have been able to prevent her committing an error. The poor old soul hasn't had the advantage of a university education.

CANADA AND AN IDEAL. Canada desires to be a kingdom. It would like King George to undergo his third crowning at Ottawa, by which time, one may be assured, he would be a very tired monarch indeed. Obviously a section of Canadian people desire that the great Dominion shall be promoted as an answer to the wild talk of annexation by the United States. Possibly Canada looks across the water to the Indian empire with its hundreds of millions of subjects, and desires equal rank. India is a country of many potentates, and for many reasons, chiefly diplomatic and* racial, it is necessary that every means should be taken to impress on the King's Indian subjects his absolute paramonntcy, however benevolent it may be. It is as unlikely that King George will be crowned in Ottawa as it is that he will be crowned at Yass-Canbcrra or at Wellington. If the latter were, remotely possible, the Auckland Chamber of Commerce would never forgive tlie capital. With the establishment of cordial relations between the United States and Britain, there is a growing probability that King Ceorge will sooner or later show himself in Washington. Royalty has a curious effect on our American cousins—and certainly not an undesirable one. The late King during his visit to the States was deliriously welcomed. An American senator at the time guessed that if the Prince of Wales wanted the •Presidency of the United States the people would give it him like one man. In our view, King George would do better business by embracing the President at 'Washington than in putting on a third crown at Ottawa. Whatever may lie the reason the interchange of visits between monarchs or presidents have a particularly soothing effect. It, is, for instance, impossible to believe that the, Kaiser, who has just been visiting his relatives in England, and who was received with great affection, is aching to use his mailed fist on his cousin's country. England's kindness to foreign potentates is a ■wonderful thing in its way. British royalty is at present trying hard to make Manuel believe he is still a king by helping him to entertain royally at Buckinhain Palace and elsewhere. Kings and princes have a rare chance of setting an example of brotherly love—and they appear to be taking it. It is a good augury for the future.