CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 196, 27 January 1915, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

EXISTENCE AFTER DEATH. Sir Oliver Lodge made some remarkable statements in a lecture on "Religion and Science," which he delivered before a crowded audience in the Browning Hall, Walworth. "We ourselves are not limited to the few years that we live on this earth," said Sir Oliver. "We shall go on after it. We shall certainly continue to exist. We shall certainly survive. Why do I say this? I say it on definite scientific ground. I say it because I know that certain friends of mine still exist, because I have talked to them. Communication is possible. One must obey the laws. One must find out the traditions. I don't say it is easy. It is possible, and I have conversed with them as I would converse with anyone in this audience now, and being scientific men they have given proofs that it was really they, not some personation, not something emanating from myself. They have given definite proofs. Some of those proofs are being published; many more will have to be withheld for a time, but will ultimately be published. But the fact is so. I tell you that with all the strength of conviction which I can muster that the fact is so. that we do not persist, that these people still take an interest in what is going on, that they still help us, and know far more about things than we do, and that they are able from time to time to communicate. I know this is a tremendous statement, a tremendous conclusion. I don't think any of us—l don't think I myself realise how great a conclusion it is. It is not for everybody to investigate everything, but if persons give 30 or 40 years of their lives in this investigation, they are entitled to state results which they have arrived at. You must have evidence, of course. The evidence such as we have got is recorded in the volumes of a scientific society, and there will be much more evidence. The evidence is not a matter for casual conversation. It is a matter for serious study, and the conclusions that may be arrived at may be delayed. You may take some years to agree with these conclusions. Quite so. There is no hurry. But those students who have given most attention to it have gradually, and in the process of many years, come to agree that the proof has now become crucial, and I have no doubt whatever about it, though for many years, even since the eighties, I have tried all sorts of other methods of explaining these things until gradually they have been eliminated. The conclusion is that the survival of existence is scientifically proved by careful scientific investigation, and that of itself leads us to a perception of the unity running through all states of existence. ■That is why I say that man is not alone, and that I know he is surrounded by other intelligences. And if you once step ovqr the boundary there is no limit to the higher intelligences until you come to the Higher Intelligence itself. There is no stopping. You must go oil until you come to God."

HOW LONG WILL THE WAR LAST? How long the war is to last is the great question just now, says "Ariel" in the Dunedin Star. I fear it must be either 'a long and exhausting bout now, or else a series of wars with an uncertain peace between them. There was an attempt at peace with Napoleon in 1802, but it lated only a few months. It was not possible to maintain peace with him without giving away all that there was to fight for. We had agreed to give up Malta, but as Napoleon interfered with Switzerland immediately after the peace was patched lip, Britain refused to evacuate the island. She said: "You have gone on extending your power just as if you were engaged in successful war, while you expect us to give up our conquests. That is not even-handed justice between nation and nation." It was over .this question that Napoleon bullied our Ambassador before all the others as if he were a piek-pocket. "So you are determined to go to war! We have fought for fifteen years. I suppose you want to fight for fifteen years more. The English wish for war; but if they are the first to draw the sword I will be the last to put it in its scabbard. They have no respect far treaties. Henceforth they must be shrouded in black crepe," etc. This harangue was delivered with such violence of tone and gesture that Lord Whitworth was debating in his mind whether he should draw his sword if Napoleon struck him. Having finished bis tirade he withdrew, and left the ambassadors to despatch their couriers all over Europe announcing that war was about to be resumed. The brief peace was highly disadvantageous to Britain, for she had disbanded her forces. We must have no such peace in this case.

THE CONDITIONS IN EUROPE. Tn Europe to-day the ,sun rises shortly after eight o'clock, and sets at about three o'clock (points out the Melbourne Argus.) The period of sunlight is thus seven hours or thereabouts, while we in the Antipodes are enjoying fourteen and three-quarter hours of sun daily. It is not easy to realise the conditions under which the armies ar e fighting. Such daylight as they have at this time of the year is usually foggy. So thick are the fogs, especially in ' the region of rivers, that searchlights are of but little use against them. With the early night, too, comes the bitter cold, and the vigil in the trenches is long and comfortless. It is little wonder that slow progress is being made; the armies have such a short period daily for effectual fighting, for very little can be done at night. Even were the roads favorable and there

were no trenches to take, the pace must be like the snails. On a full summer's day an army on the march can only deploy once. On a short winter's day there is "nothing for it" but to hang on desperately and try to gain a few yards at a time. In the Crimea and other long war the soldiers went into winter quarters, and Germany would have liked to do that in this struggle. But it would not pay the Allies, who. to use Joffre's words, must "light and endure" throughout the winter. The •"promise of spring" means a great deal more to us than the poetic expression usually signifies.