The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1911. LOOKING FORWARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 127, 20 November 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1911. LOOKING FORWARD.

It is impossible to foresee the future, and the wisest men predict without any certainty. Great events, events of world-wide importance, happen so suddenly that the prophesies and conclusions of self-appointed seers seem peculiarly impotent. On the assumption that the last half century has seen the most profound changes in national management in the sciences and arts, in the matter of government, and the treatment of the people, men believe themselves qualified to make predictions. No doubt greatly aided by contemporary thinkers, Dr. W. H. Fitchett, of Melbourne, has been setting down some prophecies. Among other things, he says that there will, in the near future, bo ; p revolt, both of the reason and tie science of the civilised world, from the state of armed peace which at present prevails, with its ever-multiplying fleets of Dreadnoughts and its universal training for war. The appliances for war have grown to such a scale that war itself will be recognised as impossible, and the arbitrament of reason will take the place of the clash of fleets and armies. There must be a steady ascent in the conditions of life for the working cla.«s of every type. Two forces join to make this certain. One is the visible growth of class-consciousness among the workers themselves. The sense of a community of interests is running through them like a (lame. And since (bey are the biggest section of the community, it is certain that the whole trend of future legislation will go in the direction of a vast improvement in the social condition of tlie working classes. The latter prophecy is easy, for it is happening now before the eyes of the generation, hut Dr. Fitchett is convinced that a second force is working in the same direction, and profoundly influencing every class of the community, which may lie called the new Christianised eomscience which is visibly acquiring authj ority. Christianity is touching with its strange yet gracious forces the moral sense of the world. Tt is making cruelty, injustice and oppression intolerable. The spectacle of the inequalities of human life disquiets it; the mere existence of suffering is felt to be a resistless challenge; and the new Christian conscience stirring in the nation as to these things is a guarantee of social advance in every form. The average Christian pulpit, curiously enough, is apparently unconscious of the amazing victory which Christian ideas have won, and are winning, in this realm. Some forces at the present moment seem to arrest adranci

in the organised churches. The churchca themselves lack leaders of striking personality; the higher criticism has not reached any certain conclusion' of its own, but it has helped to smite with a note of uncertainty—and, therefore, of weakness—the average pulpit. But any pessimism as to the future of Christianity is contradicted by the whole trend of civilisation, and by the silent and universal authority which Christian ideals are establishing over human life. Dr. Fitchett, in his prophecy, shows that science and religion are becoming mates —the one the complement of the other — saying that a generation ago science was busy amongst the immensities; it was pushing back the horizons of the wiiverse; and. as it deciphered what may be called the mathematics of the heavens, beneath the height, the splendor, the ordered and illimitable magnificence thus revealed, man seemed to shrink, and Christianity—which has the greatness of man as its central truth—threatened to become incredible. How remote God seemed, sitting behind His stars! But the new science to-day finds greatness not in the infinite, but in the infinitesimal. It discovers the Pleiades in every atom. The dust of the earth is as rich in stars as the azure of the heavens. There is n physical eternity packed into a speck of radium. Speculation on the future is infinitely useful,, because it makes for preparation in any eventuality. The past being dead does not concern lis. The picture is big with' every conceivable possibility. There is nothing certain, although Dr. Fitchett conceives the certainties of the future to be a revolt of the world's commonsense against the present system of international politics, with their . intolerable burden of fleets and armies; an immense advance in the social condition of the working classes, due to the new political force these classes will derive from cohesion betwixt themselves; and due, in an even higher degree, to the new authority of Christian ideals amongst all classes; and a new authority which Christian faith will take largely as the result of science which, like Kepler, will learn "to think Ood's thoughts after Him." But this new authority of religion may express himself in termi which, at first, the churches may not recognise. It is a hea'thy view to believe that humanity h glowing better. that peace, contentment and a broader brotherhood are possible, and that history is not necessarily made with the sword.

TARAXAKI AGRICULTURAL SHOW. Organisation and vigor, as well as a great access of interest on the part of the public, make it certain that the New Plymouth show, to be held on Wednesday and Thursday ne,xt, will surpass in every detail any show ever held in the town, We have always lu-ld that agricultural shows have a growing usefulness, for each succeeding show spurs the emulation of exhibitors and necessarily improves the class of exhibitors. By the enthusiasm of the committee, aided by the vigor thrown into the work by the secretary, the number or entries for this year are 70 per cent, in excess of those of last year, and this, of course, indicates that settlers and stock owners generally recognise more than ever the utility of a great exhibition where comparisons can be easily made, points discussed and fellow settlers can be met. In Taranaki generally stock owners, and particularly dairy farmers, have concluded that only the best beasts are worth while, and it is by seeing the best that Taranaki produces that improvement becomes a matter of pride and emulation. We are hoping that the spirit of emulation will induce both breeders and owners to exercise greater care, as is evidenced nowadays in the selection and breeding of dairy animals, for at last year's show the judges of horses remarked that unfortunately unsoundness was too common. We know that Taranaki can produce and has produced magnificent horses, and it is only a question of rigorous selection (and rejection) and this district will show as fine a lot of horses as any other district in New Zealand. Sheep classes are larger than usual, and this is gratifying, for much of Taranaki land is peculiarly adapted for raising the liest classes of sheep. We have often been told that Taranaki farmers could make fortunes with pigs, for the demand is unlimited, and the conditions in a great dairying country perfect. It is just as necessary to have good pigs as good cows and horses, but if one is to judge by the few entries the "fashionable" breeds are not yet numerous enough. The exhibition of the best the outsiders can show us will, we hope, spur Taranaki settlers to a keener interest in one of the most useful antl payable of the domestic animals. It goes without saying that the best the district can show (and therefore the best New Zealand can produce) will be exhibited in the dairy produce division, and that the keenest possible interest will be taken in this display, which illustrates the means by which the people of Taranaki live. As there is such a large increase of exhibitors, it is hoped there will bo a greater attendance of the public, and this is vitally necessary to the success of the society and its progress, There is no reason vhy the Taranaki Show should not be one of the finest of its kind in New Zealand, for there are all the elements necessary. We cordially congratulate the Society on its enthusiastic preparation for this important event, and wish it the success it deserves, for such a show is a true index of the rural activities and progress of the people.

THE PRACTICAL .JOKER. The practical joke is always with us. His "fun" is in all grades, from firing stones on the roof at a political meeting (<i bunging the utterly unnecessary kerosene tin at a wedding. We have tlu; man with the distorted idea of fun who throws the gates of citizens into a creek, paints -black horses white, and ties tins tn the tails of animals which cannot retaliate. We have' a more idiotic practical joker than all these. There is the cripple with the crippled legs and the twisted spine who has been mado to "sit down" suddenly by the simple process of drawing his chair from under him. We know a man whose life is a misery and who is a travesty on nature, but who was once tall and strong and well-favored. Some kind friend jumped on his bsek suddenly, and permanently in jured his spine, in the Waikalo a few days ago a passenger on a coach offered a Maori '"a drink," The Maori took it. It was formalin! Fortunately the coach was passing a doctor's residence, and the Maori's life was saved with difficulty. The peculiar type of mind which sees "fun" in jokes that

imperil lives is fair]}' common and is always possessed by undisciplined and wholly ignorant people. One of the cruellest practical jokes we've heard of was played by a man on an infant. He gave it a good-sized piece of tobacco to chew! lie explained when the child was convulsed with the action of the irritant poison that it ''would cure him of smoking!" The child died, for the joke took place in a remote corner of Victoria, far from medical aid. The Waikato practical joker has the satisfaction of knowing that a Maori is going about with a burnt interior, and that it isn't his fault lie is not in the cemetery. The man who gains a reputation as a humorist by attempts to injure his fellow men is really a candidate for a mental hospital, and a peculiar trait in the character of such a one is that he resents with peculiar venom any attempt to be "funny" with him.

IXFAXTILE MORTALITY. The Government Statistician points out that Xew Zealand lias the lowest infant mortality (excepting South Australia) in the world. That is to say, although Xew Zealand does not produce an overwhelmingly large number of babies, it saves more than any other country (excepting South Australia). The number of deaths of infants in New Zealand under one year of ago (the basis of all calculations on this subject) is 02 per thousand, and the importance of this is shown when it is compared with the English rate (100 per 1000) and the Scottish rate (121 per 1000). The reasons are plain, although, of course, the statistician does notj discuss them. The largest infant death-rate in England and Scotland (and continental countries) .is in manufacturing towns. In a recent compilation it was shown that the infant death-rate in Glasgow proper was 130 per 1000,' While in rural localities it was in some, years only 15 per 1000. The juggernaut of the factory simply rolls over the city infant and it has few chances. In Xew Zealand the conditions of life are different—the country is not crowded, the people arc not so poor, there is more air and sun and food available, and 1 women are not called on to slave in factories during a period when they should be nursing babies.