NOTES 321 



be a reflex, not of the majority of the people, but of the whole people ; that 

 minorities should have a share of responsibilities instead of being driven into mere 

 irresponsibility ; and that the views of all, however mistaken, should have a 

 hearing, for after all the best way to overcome error is to answer it with argument 

 and destroy it. The Rt. Hon. Lord MacDonnell, G.C.S.I., amongst others, 

 upheld the view that the present system of representation, which is proving itself 

 to be a bad policy for England, is still more fatal when applied to Ireland, and 

 that if all parties in that country felt sure of some representation much of the 

 present dissension would abate. As the present electoral system shows signs of 

 being scrapped in the near future, it surely behoves those at present unacquainted 

 with this scheme to examine carefully these ideas of the " single transferable vote" 

 and the " quota " which, if put into operation, would go far to bring governments 

 on their path towards the ideal democracy. 



The Programme of the British Science Guild 



The Guild has issued a very important Memorandum on what it thinks should 

 be done for the betterment of Science in Britain— proposing a National Statutory 

 Board of Science and Industry. The signatures of a large number of influential 

 persons are appended. We regret that we have not got sufficient space for the 

 publication of it ; but we recommend our readers to obtain copies from the 

 Secretary, 199, Piccadilly, W. The matter will be considered together with other 

 reports in our next issue. 



This and That 



Men of science will welcome the appointment of the Marquess of Crewe, K.G., 

 to the high office of President of the Board of Education. He is President of the 

 Imperial College of Science and Technology and an accomplished poet, and has 

 commenced well by establishing committees to inquire into the position of science 

 and modern languages respectively in our system of education. Sir J. J. Thomson, 

 P.R.S., is the chairman of the former committee, Profs. H. B. Baker, F.R.S., and 

 E. B. Starling, F.R.S., being among the members. We wish that Sir Ray 

 Lankester had been one also, as he has done much for the movement which 

 principally led to this result. 



Our modern education has created a widespread culture which is humane, just, 

 and accomplished, but also casuistic, and therefore almost entirely non-productive; 

 and it is tending to become effeminate or even effete. At its best it generates 

 types like the hero of Tennyson's Princess, and at its worst, ineffectuals like 

 Herrick in Stevenson and Osbourne's Ebb Tide, who starved with a Vergil in his 

 pocket. More science and modern languages, joined with Sir Baden Powell's 

 admirable doctrines, will put life and backbone into the product. An ideal is 

 attempted in the following Essay. 



Most people have concluded by now that the war— the greatest disaster which 

 has ever befallen Europe — was due to the misgovernment of the world by essentially 

 wrong types of persons, who rule in the interests of themselves rather than of 

 humanity or of their nation. The problem of the future is how to replace these 

 persons by higher types; and the notes by Sir Harry Johnston and Lord Montagu, 

 and Dr. Hodgson's review of M. Faguet's book, should be considered from this 

 point of view. The notes furnish examples of M. Faguet's theory of misrule by 

 ostracism. So long as we continue to believe that persons who have never seen 



