Science Wireless Telephone SCIENCE In a few weeks, remarks a contemporary, it will be possible for London and New York to talk to each other over the telephone, and it is probably only a question of a few months before Calcutta and London will be able to do business in the same way. Mr. Godfrey Isaacs, Managing Director of the Merconi Wireless Telegraph Co., Ltd., says that at first it may be necessary to make the calls from central offices, but the company is hopeful of being able to introduce methods for relaying the message over private wires. This means that British and American subscribers will be able to carry on a desk to desk conversation by merely lifting the receiver off the book and asking the exchange for the desired overseas number. Experiments in another direction lead experts to believe that at no very distant date pocket wireless sets will be in everyday use. "A stockbroker's clerk walking down a London street," said Mr. Isaacs," will hear a bell ringing in his pocket, and putting the receiver to his ear will hear the voice of his employer, who at that moment is travelling in an aeroplane at 100 miles an hour probably as far off as Warsaw." It is understood that the Government is taking steps to compel commercial airships an aeroplanes to carry wireless telephone or telegraph installatiors. The larger machines of both types may have to carry both wireless telegraph and telephone installations, the former for accurately fixing their position at night or in fog by communicating with long distance 'compass' stations which give the pilot his angular direction and the telephone for speaking to passing aircraft and making arrangements with aeroplanes for landing. With regard to wireless telephone talks to India it is only a question of developing still further the power required for the London-New. York installation. 365 The Most Scientific Tooth Brush Mr. Rafiden Ahmed writes in a recent issue of the Modern Review: The most scientific tooth brush to my mind, is the one used by the peasants of India, namely, the acacia twig. Why? I would boil down the reasons into two: First, because each man forms his own tooth-brush by chewing the ends of the twig, and secondly, each twig is used but once. I doubt if Koch could have improved on this idea, regarding asepsis or sterility. Music by Radio-Telephone Dr. L. de Forrest, the noted wireless telephone expert and inventor, predicted that in the summer of 1919 it will be possible for the human voice spoken into the transmitter of the redio-telephone to be heard 12,000 miles away, or nearly halfway around the world. The feat would extend the present wireless telephone distance 6,000 miles at one leap. Dr. de Forrest said: "The world is about to see another distinct advance in the rapid progress of engineering, This advance is assured through the experiments of Dr. Alexanderson of the General Electric Company, who has been the world pioneer in the construction of high frequency alternators and generating alternating currents, which can be applied to antennæ and radiated from wireless signalling. His latest product is a current of approximately 15,000 metre wave length." It was further explained by Dr. de Forrest that all this energy can be controlled so as to be modulated in perfect conformity with speech waves and be transmitted half-way around the world. He said also that the use of the audion makes possible the amplification of sounds received to any desired degree, so as to be heard throughout a large auditorium. Music-lovers in New Zealand, for instance, can hear concerts yb artists in New York, Paris, and London, as plainly and distinctly as persons attending the actual renditions, Personal Mr. Horniman's Deportation The "Indian Social Reformer" writes:When all is said, however, the summary deportation of an Englishman apparently for no other offence than that he espoused the the Indian cause, not always wisely perhaps, but there cannot be the least doubt, whole-heartedly and thoroughly, is a measure which no Indian publicist can view with equanimity. An English journalist may with perfect impunity rail against the Founder of a great religion professed by millions of Indians; another can traduce with equal impunity a dead Indian leader held in universal reverence by all classes of Indians; and yet others can make it their principal occupation in this country to carry on a campaign of hatred and calumny against educated Indians. But if an Englishman or woman who has taken the Indian side, allow themselves to be carried away even a little by their zeal for the cause they have espoused, deportation and internment are their portion. We had our differences with Mr. Horniman. We like journalistic terrorism as little as administrative terrorism. On one occasion at least we had to protest against what seemed to be an attempt on the part of the Chronicle to intimidate us. Mr. Horniman's policy in the Chronicle was largely responsible for the estrangement between the experienced Moderate leaders, and the inexperienced, but intensely zealous and patriotic, younger workers in Bombay politics. But Mr. Horniman did not carry public differences into private life. Almost in the very midst of a hot controversy, he wrote a very touching and generous letter of symathy which this writer cannot forget. He is undoubtedly a great journalist and a large hearted Englishman who sincerely felt and worked for the people in utter disdain of personal consequences. He had faults, it is said, but let him who is sinless cast the first stone. We earnestly trust that he will be back again to carry on his great work among us with renewed health and strength and, may we add, in a manner to unite and hold together the younger and more ardent, and the older and more experienced, of Indian workers and leaders? The Servants of India Society. During the absence of the Hon. Mr. Sastri, the Servants of India Society have appointed Mr. N. A. Dravid as acting President. The Leader writes: Mr. Dravid has been for the last six years senior member of the Central Provinces and Berar Branch of the Society and he edits an English weekly, Hitavada, at Nagpur. He comes from a Brahman family of Tanjore, long settled in Berar. He was educated at Agra College and passed his B.A., with honours in English in 1894 and M. A. in 1895. For some time he served as a Professor in the Maharashtra and Fergusson Colleges, and when Mr. Gokhale established the Servants of India Society in 1905, he was one of the first three members to join it, the other two being Messrs. G. K. Devadhar and A. V. Patwardhan. He edited the Marathi daily, Dnyan Prakash for five years. Mr. S. G. Vaze, B.A., will be the acting editor of the Servant of India. As Mr. Sastri has publicly acknowledged with characteristic generosity, the brunt of the edito rial work, all these months has been borne by Mr. Vaze, and he has shown commendable ability and discretion in the performance of his duties. We are sure the paper will not lose in interest or suffer in quality during Mr. Vaze's editorship. Pandit Krishna Prasad Kaul has been elected a member of the Council of the Society during Pandit Hirday Nath Kunzru's absence in England. Political Resolutions of the Congress Committee The following resolutions were passed at the meeting of the All-India Congress Committee held in Bombay on the 20th and 21st April, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya presiding: (1) That the All-India Congress Committee emphatically protests against the passing of what is commonly known as the "Rowlatt Act" and in view of the fact that the entire Indian public opinion is strongly opposed to the measure the Committee urges upon the Secretary of State for India to advise His Majesty the King-Emperor to disallow it. (2) That the All-Indian Congress Committee deplores and condemns all acts of violence against persons and property which were recently committed at Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Viramgam and other places and appeals to the people to maintain law and order and to help in the restoration of public tranquility and it urges upon Government to deal with the situation in a sympathetic and conciliatory manner, immediately reversing the present policy of repression. (3) That the All-India Congress Committee places on record its strong condemnation of the order passed under the Defence of India Act by the Government of the Punjab, the Administration of Delhi and by the Government of India against a person of such wellknown noble character and antecedents as Mr. M. K. Gandhi. The Committee cannot help feeling that if these orders had not been passed some of the regrettable events which followed them may not have happened. The Committee requests the Government of India to withdraw its own order and to ask the Local Governments in question to do the same. (4) That a Committee consisting of the following gentlemen:-The President Mr. Jinnah, Mr. Jayakar, Mr. Kasturiranga Iyengar and Mr. Patel be appointed to prepare a statement (a) replying to the communique issued by the Government of India, dated the 14th instant, in which they justified the Rowlatt Act, condemned the agitation against it and characterised it as calculated to mislead the people; (b) stating the various causes that have led up to the present grave and deplorable state of things all over the country; and (c) making a demand for a public enquiry into the events that have happened in Delhi, the Punjab, Bombay and Calcutta, drawing particular attention to certain measures reported to have been taken by the Executive which seem obviously objectionable, such as the dropping of bombs from aeroplanes, the use of machine-guns and whipping and submit it to the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy. (5) That the All-India Congress Committee hereby authorises the members of the Congress deputation proceeeding to England to place the actual political situation consequent on the passing of the Rowlatt Act before the Secretary of State and the British public and to urge disallowance of the Rowlatt Act, the reversal of the policy of repression and the immediate adoption of a policy of conciliation and reform. Moderates' Protests Mr. Surendranath Banerjea, President of the Committee of the All India Moderate Conference, has sent a lengthy statement to the Secretary of State for India, the Viceroy and Lord Sinha on the present crisis. It says: That in view of the great situation that has since arisen, the Committee are strongly of opinion that in the public interest the Secretary of State should advise the King-Emperor to disallow the Act. The Committee deeply regret that the passive resistance movement should have been started against the Rowlatt Act, and deplore the outbreak of lawlessness that occurred in various parts of India. While supporting the action of the authorities in maintaining law and order, the Committee insist that employment of force or of repressive measures should be strictly limited to the actual requirements of the situation. Having regard to the exceptionally severe measures that have been and are being employed in the Punjab, the Committee submit that it is necessary for the Government to publish full and complete information in order to justify them. In the absence of a full statement of facts the Committee are unable to support many of the stringent measures that have been adopted and at least some of them they are bound to condemn as acts of unprecedented and unjustifiable severity. The Committee think that there are grounds for assumption that the charac ter of the administration of the Punjab during the last few years has created discontent and alienated the people, and the Rowlatt Act Satyagraha demonstrations furnished occasion for the ebullition of such a feeling. They are of opinion that there is no reason for the delay in the assumption of office by Sir Edward Maclagan, and that there should be an inquiry into the relation between Sir Michael O'Dwyer's administrative methods and the present situation in the Punjab. The Southborough Reports At a general meeting of the Madras Liberal League held on the 17th instant at Mr. Natesan's office with Sir P. S. Sivaswami Aiyar in the chair, it was unanimously resolved that the following telegram be sent to the Private Secretary to H. E the Viceroy and the Secretary to Governmant, Home Department, and that it be followed with a letter. "In view of the incomplete character of the information conveyed to the public in the published despatches and minutes of the Government of India accompanying the Southborough reports the Madras Liberal League prays that the earlier despatches of the Goverment of India to the Secretary of State on the Montagu-Chelmsford report referred to in the dissenting minutes may also be made available to the public as early as possible." A Committee was also appointed to consider the Southborough Committee's Reports and connected papers and prepare a Memorandum on the subject to be submitted to the authorities, General Sir Tagore's Letter to Mr. Gandhi On the 12th April last, Sir Rabindranath Tagore wrote the following letter to Mr. M. K. Gandhi, from Shantiniketan : DEAR MAHATMAJI. Power in all its forms is irrational, it is like the horse that drags the carriage blind-folded. The moral element in it is only represented in the man who drives the horse Passive resistance is a force which is not necessarily moral in itself; it can be used against truth as well as for it. The danger inherent in all force grows stronger when it is likely to gain success, for then it becomes temptation. I know your teaching is to fight against evil by the help of the good. But such a fight is for heroes and not for men led by impulses of the moment. Evil on one side naturally begets evil on the other, injustice leading to violence and insult to vengefulness. Unfortunately such a force has already been started; and either through panic or through wrath, our authorities have shown us their claws, whose sure effect is to drive some of us into the secret path of resentment and others into utter demoralisation. In this crisis you, as a great leader of men, have stood among us to proclaim vour faith in the ideal which you know to be that of India, the ideal which is both against the cowardliness of hidden revenge and the cowed submissiveness of the terror-stricken. You have said, as Lord Buddha has done in his time and for all time to come: 'Akkodhena jine kodham, asadhum sadhuna jine.' Conquer anger by the power of non-anger and evil by the power of good.' This power of good must prove its truth and strength by its fearlessness, by its refusal to accept any imposition which depends for its success upon its power to produce frightfulness and is not ashamed to use its machines of destruction to terrorise a people completely disarmed We must know that moral conquest does not consist in success, that failure does not deprive it of its dignity and worth. Those who believe in spiritual life know that to stand against wrong which has overwhelming material power bebind it is victory itself, it is the victory of the active faith in the ideal in the teeth of evident defeat. I have always felt, and said accordingly, that the great gift of freedom can never come to a people through charity. We must win it before we can own And India's opportunity for winning it will it. come to her when she can prove that she is morally superior to the people who rule her by their right of conquest. She must willingly accept her penance of suffering, the suffering which is the crown of the great. Armed with her utter faith in goodness, she must stand unabashed before the arrogance that scoffs at the power of spirit. And you have come to your motherland in the time of her need to remind her of her mission, to lead her in the true path of conquest, to purge her present day politics of its feebleness which imagines that it has gained its purpose when it struts in the borrowed feathers of diplomatic dishonesty. This is why I pray most fervently that nothing that tends to weaken our spiritual freedom may intrude into our marching line, that martyrdom for the cause of truth may never degenerate into fanaticism for mere verbal forms, descending into the self-deception that hides itself behind sacred names. With these few words for an introduction allow me to offer the following as a poet's contribution to your noble work: I Let me hold my head high in this faith that thou art our shelter, that all fear is mean distrust of thee. Fear of man? But what man is there in this world, what king, O King of Kings, who is thy rival, who has hold of me for all time and in all truth? What power is there in this world to rob me of freedom? For do not thy arms reach the captive through the dungeon-walls bringing unfettered release to the soul? And must I cling to this body in fear, of death, as a miser to his barren treasure? Has not this spirit of mine the eternal call to the feast of everlasting life? Let me know that all pain and death are shadows of the moment; that the dark force which sweeps between me and thy truth is but the mist before the sunrise; that thou alone art mine for ever and greater than all pride of strength that dares to mock, my manhood with its menace. II Give me the supreme courage of love, this is my prayer, the courage to speak, to do, to suffer at thy will to leave all things or be left alone. Give me the supreme faith of love, this is my prayer, the faith of the life in death, of the victory in defeat, of the power hidden in the frailness of beauty, of the dignity of pain that accepts hurt, but disdains to return it. Sir Tagore on the present crisis Sir Rabindranath Tagore has sent the following letter to a friend and has also permitted its publication: Most of the Anglo-Indian papers are crying for more blood. They are sure that there are some mischief makers behind the present disturbances. Cer tai ly there are. But who are they? Serious disturbances have taken place in all three countries where the British have their sway-Ireland, Egypt and India respectively, containing three different peoples widely different in their civilisation, temperament and tradition. Is it unthinkable that the mischief-maker may be lurking somewhere in the common element which they all have, namely, the one people which governs them? It is not in the system of government or the law but in the men entrusted with the carrying on of the Government, the men who have not the imagination or sympathy truly to know the people whom they rule, the men who imagine that it is their material power which carries its own permanence in itself, and that therefore the eternal truths of human nature and moral providence can be ignored in its favour. It is evident that these people in their blind pride will ever go on seeking for the source of mischief outside themselves and easily succeed in catching some stray dog to give it a bad name and hang it. This will only prolong their period of harbouring the mischief in their own person and driving it deeper into their constitution. |