TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8303, 5 December 1906, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

Whether tbe Bannerman Government will stand or fall by ita Education Bill cepiains to be seen, bat for tbe time being there is it considerable possibility of that measure being the cause of a politioal crisis of which the ultimate outaome is bard to foresee. The House of Lords, in which the Established Church of England has diract re presentation through its Lord Bishops, has oarried oertaiu sweeping amendments which the E'remier declares to have made the L'ill useless l 0 the Uornruons or to tha country, and throughout England a crusade against the hereditary chamber is being preached from every Nonconformist pulpit that favoured the Bill at its originally stood.

lha condiu'ors settled by the Dairy Association in conuecliou with the position of Lab don ageut provi 10 that the pursa-i appointed shall devote bis whole time and ;*att3ntiori exclusively to the service of the Association, lie is required tu possess an expert knowledge of butter and oheese, and the conditions of its manufacture and export from New Zealand, and to acquire as soon a possible aft»r bis arrival in London a similar knowledge of the conditions of its importation into Great Britain and its distribution. It will be part of his duty to inspect the lauding and distribution to tbe various consignees of all butter and oheese, aud Investigate all complaints and generally to keep the Association informed of all matters of interest to it. It is understood that the salary offered is £I,OOO, but Ineluded in this is a grant of £2OO for the maintenance of an offloe in London and the employment of a responsible person therein, and £2OO is allocated for travelling expenses, so that the net salary is estimated at about £6OO a year.

A movement for the establishment aud eucouiagement of choral siuging in the Army has been started at Aldoishot ar.d has met with hearty approval from distinguished generals,, aud uthers. Lord Wolseley wrote that the proposal should have the support of all who took an interest in the soldier. Lord Methuen stated that it was an entire fallacy to suppose that the British soldier appieolated nothing but musio hall songs; whilst Sir Redvers Buller snid that he had little doubt that commanding officers would approve of regimental choral societies. Sir George White considered that the scheme would not only wake an the men, but would afford an opportunity of disseminating patriotism and enthusiasm, Sir Richard Seymour saw in the Boheme promise of further fostering the loyal and national spirit. Sir William Butler said that a man who could sing as he walked was worth a dozen gloomy marchers. General Baden-Powell, Lord Charles Bereßford, and others also wrote approving of the movement.

What is the chief secret of the amazing progress which has been made by the world, especially by the Anglo-Haxon race? ' Any man who considers the question\tboughtfully will admit that it is the desire for "getting on" implanted in each individual breast—in other words, that it is ambition whion leads either a nation or & olasa to advancement. Sydney Smith, it will be remembered, went so far as to argue that the high standing cf tne Church of England was preserved by the inequality of its revenues. The whole income of the Church, if equally divided, would, he ualculated, be about £250 tor each minister. Who, he ashed, would go into the Church and spend £1,200 or £1,500 upon his education if such were the highest remuneration he could ever look to? Men of higher oJass, both intellectually and socially, were tempted into the Ohuroh by the prizes of the Ghuroh. If the spirit of ambition has such effect in a vocation whore i altruistic motives are especially called into play, it is clear that tha driving power of the spirit of "gettting on" must be great indeed in occupations where more worldly considerations may be expeoted to prevail. It will indeed be found that the nations iu which the apixit of competition is Keenest are in the van of progress to-day.