The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1929. BRITAIN'S FISCAL FUTURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 306, 27 December 1929, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1929. BRITAIN'S FISCAL FUTURE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the torong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

The assertion made last week by Mr. L. 3. Amery that Britain "stands on the brink of a sweeping revolution against the whole fiscal policy" is a /Statement which deserves careful consideration. For Mr. Amery speaks on this subject with quite exceptional authority and force. As comrade and ally of Mi , . Joseph Chamberlain in the Tariff Reform campaign twenty-five years ago, and as author of a singularly able and penetrating, criticism of "The Fallacies of Free Trade," Mr. Amery commands the attention of all interested in economic questions at Home. At the same time, his experience as Secretary for th e Dominions, and his personal knowledge of "Greater Britain," attach special value to his views on the subject of Imperial commerce and industry. Mr. Amery's assurance that "old prejudices are melting at a tremendous rate in face of the terrible national position" mint therefore be accepted as strong first-hand evidence of the anxiety and perturbation now pervading commercial circles at Home.

The most obvious and most important reason for the agitation over the fiscal problem in Britain just now is, as Mr. Amery hits suggested, the depressed state of British,tradu, and the steady decline of Britain's markets at home and abroad. Arising out of this condition of things, Lord Beaverbrook's crusade in favour of "Empire Free Trade" is an even more definite proof of the strength of that reaction against Britain's established fiscal policy which has impressed Mr. Amery so forcibly. A few clays ago Mr. R. B. Bennett, Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian Parliament, having just returned to Ottawa from London, publicly declared that Lord Beaverbrook's efforts have stirred up greater interest and activity in Britain in regard to industrial conditions and trade development than even the Tariff Reform campaign organised by Mr. Chamberlain a generation back. For though Lord Beaverbrook's programme may bo unacceptable and, indeed, impracticable, his statement of the facts and his persistent demand for a modification of Britain's fiscal system have aroused public interest find stimulated thought on these subjects to an unprecedented degree, and the energetic plea for some sort of fiscal reform put forward by the "crusaders" of the "Daily Express" has evidently appealed with great force to millions who have been accustomed all their lives to revere unquestioningly "the sacred principles of Free Trade."

IN THE FIELD. As they journey South, disappointed but not downhearted, members of the Otago cricket eleven may remember the joke made about a match in which an unusual number of catches were dropped. "Quite an epidemic," said au onlooker. "Yes," said the captain grimly, "but it wasn't catching." It is useless to speculate what the Auckland score would have been in this week's match if the catches dropped had been held, but it is pretty safe to say it would have been a good deal less than 356. At the same time, Canterbury, which once had a team that earned high praise for its fielding from P. F. Warner, was presenting the M.C.C. side with a whole bundle of "lives." Of course, even the finest fieldsman has his day off. Even Ranjitsinhji dropped a "sitter" in a Test match, which so unnerved his companions that they lay down and took a rest. It is a sad fact, however, that generally speaking New Zealand fielding is not what it should be, yet it is the one department of the game in which we might reasonably expect to be as good as England or Australia. The New Zealand team that visited England in 1927 was young and keen and delight'fully "sporting," but the fielding was not up to standard. The explanation is to be found, we believe, in insufficiency of fielding practice and failure to take that.almost fierce interest which alone produces first-class form. With many cricketers batting Is first in order of importance, then bowling, and then fielding— a bad third. Yet good fielding not only wins matches , , but is delightful to watch.

DEALINGS WITH RUSSIA. Napoleon's famous aphorism, "Scratch a Russian and you find a Tartar," seems to have found plenty of apt illustrations since the Bolshevik regime was established. The Russians, though originally Slavs, have been largely Orientalised by contact with the Mongol and Tartar hordes on their Asiatic frontiers, and this may help to account for the singularly crude and barbarous manners that the Bolsheviks frequently adopt in their dealings with other countries. The latest story of a diplomatic quarrel at Moscow appears to centre round the abrupt and offensive refusal of the Soviet Foreign Minister "to accept a Note from a third-rate Power"; and it has extracted from the Parisian "Temps" the acrid comment that it is difficult if not impossible to deal with the Bolsheviks "in conformity with pure international courtesy." Cordial relations between Russia and other States, whether for political or commercial purposes, are not likely to be promoted by this contemptuous disregard for the amenities of diplomatic life. This is a consideration which might also occur to the Bolshevik dictators in regard to the crusade that they are promoting against religion. To them, no doubt, the systematic destruction of religion is simply the logical outcome of Marxist doctrine, But they might reflect that the rest of the civilised world is likely to be far more shocked and outraged by this ferocious onslaught upon Christianity than it has been disgusted and repelled by the infamously bad manners of the Soviet representatives at home and abroad.