CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 11, 13 June 1913, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

A NOTABLE FIGURE GONE. In the death of Mr. Terry the British Parliament is robbed"' of ■ a notable figure, as will be seen from the following, which is taken from the "Guide to the New House of Commons": —"The former Chiof Secretary for Ireland," said the writer, "has .quite Regained his position in the party, and lie ' is one of the chief lieutenants upon-whora Mr. Balfour and the Unionist party behind him have to depend in fighting their battles with the Radical Ministry. The MacDonnell incident was an unfortunate and instructive slip in a career of rapid and otherwise unbroken success. Mr. Wyndham had already won golden opinions as private secretary to Mr. Balfour, and as Under-Secretary for War when Lord Salisbury conferred the Irish Secretaryship upon him in the course of reconstructing his Government after the election of 1900. His mind was loaded .with benevolent intentions towards the distressful country placed in his charge, and he began brilliantly by piloting the Land Act of 1903 through the House of Commons. His success in gaining the assent of all parties to that measure seems to have inspired the Chief Secretary with daring, and, as it proved, delusive hopes of what he might further* accomplish in the healing of Irish animosities. He took tho bold step, for a Conservative Minister, of appointing Sir Antony MacDonnell, a Roman Catholic and a Home Ruler, to the post of Permanent UnderSecretary, and of, conferring on him a discretion beyond all precedents in the

relations between the responsible statesman and his official subordinates. The consequences of that departure, culminating in Mr. Wyndham's own departure from tiie Treasury Bench in March of 1905, provoked a severe illness, but Mr. Wyndham recovered In time to take an active part in the General Election. He is one of the best and most useful debaters who could be at the service of any party—clear, finished, moderate, tactful, and conciliatory."

A MEMORIAL OF BYRON. Every year, oil April 1!), the following advertisement appears in the "In Memoriam" column of the London Times: Byron—George Gordon Noel Lord Byron died nol)lv for (!recce at Missoioiighi, April lit, 1824. 'When love who sent forgot to save The young, the beautiful, the brave." —"The Bride of Abydos.'' Sir Walter Scott, speaking of his death, said, "It is as if the sun had

gone out." The Westminster Gazette explains that this notice is paid for under the terms ■of a wilt of a lady who greatly, admired the direction being that it is to appear until a memorial of Byron is admitted to Westminster Abbey. After Byron's death a fund was raised by subscription . for a statue, which was executed by Thorwaldsen and offered to Westminster Abbey. The Abbey authorities, however, twice refused it, and it was then offered and accepted by Trinity College, Cambridge, where Byron was educated, in the library of which it now stands. The statue is a beautiful piece of work, representing Byron seated in the ruins of Athens, meditating, so it is supposed, on the last canto of "Childe Harold." One who used to look at it daily described it as possessing a "wonderful charm which familiarity but tends to increase." Perhaps some day the ban placed on the poet by the Abbey will be lifted, and his genius will be eomfnemorated among the peers.

THE NEW ZEALAND NEWSPAPERS. Seeing that the character of the newspaper Press usually reflects that of the community which it serves, it ought to be a matter of gratification to the people of New Zealand that visitors to the Dominion, as a rule, speak very highly of its newspapers. The latest compliment of this kind comes from the Rev. Martin Anstev, M.A., 8.D., secretary of the London City Mission, who recently returned to England from his Australasian tour. According to the Christian World, Mr. Anstey regards the Now Zealand Press as being "in the very front rank of institutions of this kind in all parts of the world."

CANCER CURATIVE SERUM. Dr. Otto Schmidt, claimed nt a meeting of the Cologne Medical Society that lie had discovered the cancer parasite and curative serum, and requested the Society to appoint a commission to investigate his claims. Cancer lias been the subject of observation from time immemorial, and of the most elaborate investigation by innumerable workers in recent years, lmt the problems of its origin and character have hitherto baffled enquiry. The only "cure" at present remains removal by operation, but improved methods of diagnosis enable this to be done in many eases at an earlier stage of the disease than formerly, and modern methods of surgery permit not only of operation in parts of the body formerly inaccessible, but also more complete removal of the affected tissues. Numerous forms of treatment by modern therapeutic means, both internal and external, have been advocated and tried; but they are all of an experimental nature, and have failed to meet with general acceptance. One of the most recent is treatment by trypsin. a pancreatic ferment. Another 'experimental method of treatment is application of the X-rays, but the results vary in a capricious and inexplicable manner.