SPECTABILIA
SIR JAGADIS BOSE has just returned from a visit to Geneva which was a triumph for his discoveries. The greatest botanists, physicists and physiologists of Europe acclaimed the super-sensitive instruments which he has perfected and the results of his researches. Pro- fessor Chodat, the eminent plant physiologist of Geneva, who has just been made the President of the Congress of Botanists in America, has initiated work in his own laboratory on the lines suggested by Sir Jagadis's lectures, and Professor Einstein, who followed the demonstrations with the keenest interest, was reported in the Geneva newspapers as saying that, if only for a single one of his many discoveries, Bose should have a statue erected to his memory. Sir Jagadis was to lecture yesterday (August 6th) before the Physiological Section of the British Association at Oxford. India may well be proud of the whole-hearted acclaim with which the scientific world has greeted her distinguished son.
* * * * I met recently the adviser on labour and industrial matters to the head of one of the largest commercial undertakings in the United States who is over here to investigate conditions in this country. He was enthusi- astic over the progress made by joint-committees con- sisting of representatives of the employers and of the workers in all large American industrial undertakings. In the last five years in the United States a revolution has taken place in the relationship of employer and employed. My informant considers that no Amall part of America's present prosperity is due to this coming- together of the two sides in industry. The constitution of these committees and their size vary, but the chief thing about them is that they provide a platform for the airing of grievances and the workers realize that they are definitely associated with the management of the con- cern. My friend stated that he did not believe we should return to prosperity in this country till we adopted these joint-committees in our factories.
* * According to The Hague correspondent of the Times, a Dutch professor will leave Holland next year for South Africa where he has been asked to undertake the trans- lation of the Old Testament into Afrikaans. There has been an increasing movement in South Africa in recent years for the use of Afrikaans as a literary vehicle. It is taught in the schools, used in Parliament and in the Law Courts. A recent Act declared that the word Dutch shall mean " either Nederlands or Afrikaans." When in South Africa I attended church in a purely Dutch- speaking dorp and, so far as I remember, the Bible used was in Nederlands and the sermon was delivered in European Dutch. * * A recent number of the Cape Argus made a reference to the increasing trade between Sbuth Africa and the United States, due no doubt to the efforts of the American Trade Commissioner in South Africa and the South African Trade Commissioner in the United States. A trade of comparatively recent development is that of the export of silk hose. Despite its scanty European popula- tion, South Africa's womenfolk import more silk stockings from America than any other country except Great Britain and the Argentine.
In the pages of The Outlook, I am taken to task' for having stated that Great Britain is a delightful plaCe for the retired business man from the Dominions and the United States to come and live in, • but I remain un- repentant. Just as the Swiss people have turned their natural advantages to good effect and the tourist industry is a great national asset, so I believe that we in the Old Country could make more of our opportunities. Such a belief does not imply that I consider that Great Britain is " down and out," as the writer in The Outlook seems to imagine. Far from it.
* * • The movement for appointing Dominion-born Govern- ors throughout the Empire is growing. Recently there was published the correspondence between the Dominions Office and-the Australian States, where Labour Govern- ments have been advocating the appointment of Australian-born State Governors. De Burger, the Minis- terial organ in South Africa, says that at the forthcoming Imperial Conference, Canada, the Irish Free State and South Africa will bring up the question of appointing their own statesmen as Governors-General. " In Canada, of course, the Lieutenant-Governors of the Provinces are Canadian-born, but so far no Dominion except Ireland possesses a home-born Governor-General." * * * Nothing is static in the British Empire, however, and probably in the course of time Dominion-born Governors- General will be appointed. As local nationalism increases, so, in all probability, will the feeling against imported Governors-General grow. If some of the Dominions are tired of receiving purely British Governors-General, might they not like to try the experiment of receiving Governors-General from another part of the Empire ? Interesting possibilities are opened up. Why should we not have a South African Governor-General in the Irish Free State, when the time comes to find a successor to Mr. Healy at the Viceregal Lodge ? How would General Hertzog like to try his hand there ? And in return South Africa might like to welcome an Irishman as Viceroy. And what about an Australian at Ottawa and a Canadian at Canberra, where I presume the future viceregal residence will be ?
* * * * Sixty employees of Messrs. Selfridge's have sailed on a tour to the United States, which will be partly pleasure and partly business. The idea of spending one's holiday accumulating knowledge and impres- sions on another continent is an excellent one, and it is stated that it is hoped to make the journey an annual affair. Enjoying the breezes of Cliftonville or Southend may be a less strenuous form of holiday for the shop-assistant, but I recommend a summer tour of North America as a. mental stimulus. TANTUM.
Previous page
