TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3114, 13 February 1909, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

THE GROWTH OF GREAT CITIES

The century of cities is the twentieth century. In 1801 there were only 22 European cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. These cities were London, Dublin, Paris, Marsailles, Lyons, Amsterdam, Berlin. Hamburg, Vienna, Naples, Rom?, Milan, Venice, Palermo, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Copenhagen, and Constantinople. Of these only two had more than half a million inhabitants, London and Paris. At the present time Europe contains seven cities with a million or more. These are London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, St. I'etcrsburg, Moscow, Constantinople, while America has three cities with mure than a million inhabitants. These are New York with over 4,000,000, about 1,500,000 less than London, Chicago with over 2,000,000, Philadelphia with over 1,000,000. In Asia also there are several cities with populations exceeding a million. The population of the great cities of antiquity is not

accurately known. Seleucia has been credited with 600,000 inhabitants, Alexandria with 600,000 or 700,000. Rone. in the reign ot Augustus, with 800,000; Carthage with 700,000., but these estimates are little other than guesses.

THE FRENCH NAVY

A recent cablegram stated that the French Minister for Marine (M. Picard) intended to asK for the immediate construction of two battleships. The report ot M. Cnaumet on the naval budget for 1908 was a most distressing document. He said —"lt is currently stated that the French navy is passing tnrough a J crisis, and indeed its condition is not' satisfactory. Its expenditure has grown in recent years, and yet our navy, which at one time held the second place, has descended to the third. It will soon have fallen to the fourth. It seems as if our sacrifices have been stricken with sterility beforehand. We multiply our expenditure in vain. Parasitical organisms develop to the detriment of the body itself. Everywhere are 3igns of in stability and of anarchy. Sailors, engineers, and administrators, instead of being united fraternally in the loyalty of indispensable collaboration, are engaged in the most regrettable hostilites. We are suffering in the present, and have no confidence in the future." Since then the French navy has fallen to the fourth place. The revelations caused by the frequent and disastrous explosions on French warships created such a scandal that the Minister of Marine, M. 'ihomson, was obliged to resign. The new Minister has shown signs ot activity, and he has removed from the active fleet ten battleships, one armoured cruiser, six protected cruisers, five torpedo gunboats, and several other vessels, which had become obsolete.

RACE MIXTURE IN THE UNITED STATES.

Professor Ripley, in his recent Huxley lecture, dealt with the race problem in the United States. Some twenty-five million immigrants have been absorbed since 1820, and they now come in at the rate of well over a mill'on a year. Latterly the source of supply has completely changed. Twenty-five years ago two-thirds of the immigrant stock was Teutonic; now less than one-sixth is so. The trend now is for an emigrants stream from South Italy, Russia, and Austria. "We have even tapped the political sinks of Europe, and are drawing off large numbers of Greeks, Armenians, and Syrians," said Professor Ripley. "Ninety psr cent, of the tailors of New York are Russian Polish Jews; all day labourers, once Irish, are now Italian; fruitsellers, once Italian, are now Greek. Chicago is the second largest Bohemian, the third Swedish, the fourth Polish, and the fifth German city in the world. Will these racial groups coalesce into an American type? The new industrial immigrants display a surprising mobility, and wander off into the most distant parts of the country. Males are in large excess, and marry locally-born woinen. The chief factor against absorption is segregation in industrial colonies, or in the g r eat cities of the west. It is noticed that while' the Teutonic immigrants spread themselves,the Mediterranean, Slav, and Oriental races herd in the towns. All the statistics indicate a relative submergence of the AngloSaxon stock in the near future. Their birth-rate is steadily declining, while the newcomers show surprising fecundity. So far the race struggle is only in its earliest stages"

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN,

In the January instalment of his history of the Russo-Japanese war, running in "MeClure's," General Kuropatkin, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, deals with what he considers the exhausted condition of the Japanese army towards the end of the struggle, and dechres that a premature and dangerous peace was concluded. Internal disor Jers, and a hostile sentiment among the Russian public towards the war, were the real causes of the conclusion by Russia of an unfortunate peace. Kussia began the war unprepared, with insignificant forces, and carried it on under most unfavourable conditions. At Liaoyang, Shaho and Mukden, only a small proportion of the Russian army fought against the entire land forces of Japan. After Mukden the army was reinforced, and very greatly improved in several ways. The spirit of the men was better than at any previous time, and greater stubbornness was shown. "An army of one million men, well organised, seasoned by fighting, and supplied with officers upon whom we could thoroughly rely, were preparing to continue the bloody conflict with the Japanese. Never in our military history has Russia set out forces of such strength as in September, 1905, when we unexpectedly received the fatal news that agreement between our representatives and the Japanese had been reached at Portsmouth." The Japanese, on the other hand, had, according to General Kuropatkin, begun to weaken both materially and morally. Japan's resources were exhausted. She had called out all her men, and among the prisoners taken by the Russians were

some who were almost boys, and some who were almost aged men. The Japanese had suffered enormous losses, much heavier than the Russians, and their enterprise, dash, and vigilance, were relaxing. Many of the prisoners frankly admitted thai they were tirad of the wa", and in letters from Japan, found on dead men, weariness of the struggle was clearly expressed. General Kuropatkin advocates co-operatioa with England in Central Asia. "The twentieth century is bound to bring a terrible conflict in Asia between Christian and non Christian races. For the good of humanity it is imperative and necessary that in this conflict we should be the ally of Christian England against the r.onChristian races of Asia."