WORLD AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 221, 18 September 1930, Page 6

WORLD AFFAIRS.

A WEEKLY REVIEW.

(By BYSTANDER.)

The ontstanding event of the week ias been the unexpected -triumph -of the Hitlerite or National Socialist Party at the German elections. In the last there were about 12 members of this .party, and so far it seems to I»ve secured over 100 seats in the new Chamber. The Social Democrats, hitherto hy far the strongest party in the Eeichstag, now outnumber the Hitlerites by only 30 members, and —tie effects of this readjustment of the. political balance may be farreaehing and profound. So far as can be gathered from Hitlerite election programmes and speeches, the National Socialist leaders will refuse to temporise or compromise with. France, they will repudiate the Young Plan for the payment of reparations, and they will demand a strong army. 2Jo doubt if Hitler "finds that circumstances are propitious lie may attempt a "putsch" or "march on Berlin" similar to the desperate attack on the Bavarian capital that lie organised in 1923; and this would mean at least civil war.

A Difficult Predicament.'. However, there is no need to assume offhand that the worst conceivable possibilities are certain to materialise. Tor the moment the situation is still safeguarded by constitutional checks and. balances, and the Chancellor, Dr. Bruening, not only is a man of experience and courage, but he has behind him the powerful and popular figure of President Hindenburg. Bruening's difficulty, of course, is that his own Centre Party is relatively small, and to retain office he must hold together an alliance including perhaps half a dozen of the 14 parties into -which the Eeichstag is broken up. A few weeks ago, in an interview quoted by the "New York Times," the unfortunate Chancellor explained some of the embarrassing features of the position which he is now facing. "In the new German Republic/' he said rather plaintively, "getting a working majority in the Reichstag has become an extremely difficult matter." Supposing a Chancellor makes a certain concession in the clauses of a Bill to secure ten votes, which, with those already available, will give him a small majority. Quite possibly, just before the division is taken, he may discover that this concession has annoyed or alienated another j small faction of a party on which he was depending, they may decline to support his Bill, and he may have to start the business of compromise and alliance-making all over again. Evidently practical politics in the Eeichstag, with {its fourteen parties, is a more delicate; and difficult j business than in a British Parliament, including only two or at most three parties; and one can only wish Bruening success in his arduous task.

A Welcome Counterblast.

The English-speaking world, or at least that section of it which takes an" interest in American newspapers, is condemned from time to time to hear or read vehement and even virulent criticism of Britain for what she has done or has failed to do in India. A recent letter to the 'Times" contained some quotations from a sermon delivered by Dr. Parker Cadman, which provided a welcome relief from this monotonous and rather repulsive fare. Dr. Cadman "preaches" over the radio to audiences of about 40,000,000 all over the United States, and he, has certainly made himself jieard to good effect. In one of his recent deliverances he pointed out that Mexico has only 16,000,009 people, while India holds 300,000,000 or more. "Does any American statesman/ , he asked, "know what to do with Mexico? If he does, let him stand up and say so." The history of India, he maintained, since the; day of Britain's advent there has been a record of progress, and of tlie growth of a spirit of nationality, "and Britain" herself has fostered the feeling of independence which now threatens her ruin." He condemns the tendency of many Americans "to derogate and speak with disparagment of Britain" on every possible occasion, and he concludes with a peroration that from American lips is quite inspiring: "Give me leave to eay that —the British Empire is the greatest force for Christian civilisation and political freedom in the world to-day, and what she cannot do for India cannot be done by any Power." It is a pity that there are not more people in the United States as broad-minded, as unprejudiced and as courageous as Dr. Cadman.

Conciliatory France. Last week, on the Council of the League, of Nations, Dr. Curtius, the German Foreign Minister, raised the question of the Saar once more. The Saar basin is a district in the west of Germany about 750 square miles in area, with a population of about 660,000. As compensation for. the wilful destruction of the coal mines in the North of France by the Germans, this Saar region was handed over to France by the Treaty of Versailles, to be exploited in the interests of French industry. For 15 years the Saar Basin was + o be governed by a Commission of Five, chosen by the League of Nations. At the end of the 15 years a plebiscite will be taken, and the inhabitants will have the opportunity of choosing between three alternatives—union with France, union with Germany, or the maintenance of the system established by the Treaty. As the people in the Saar district are almost, exclusively German, there can be no doubt about the result of the referendum; in fact, M. Briand's remark, that "France does not intend the occupation to be permanent," shows that she has already reconciled herself to the inevitable. The question therefore is whether France might not improve her relations with Germany by withdrawing before the appointed period expires. M. Briand evidently thinks that it will be necessary in any case to retain 250 troops there to ensure the free movement of the coal trains. But it is quite possible that in his desire to placate the Germans he may agree that the French occupation of the Saar shall cease at once. The Pate of China.

During the past few months reports and rumours from China have been conflicting and bewildering beyond all precedent. The Nationalist Government at Nanking has informed the world from time to time that its armies nave been making successful progress against the Northern "rebels." But only m, week ago news came through Shanghai that an independent National Government has been set up at Peking, now restored to its old name and status. The head of the Government is Yen Hsi-shan, the Governor of Shansi, who has been leader of the revolt against Chiang Kai-shek and the Nanking Dictatorship all along. It;; now appears that the effort of the South to regain control of the North has failed utterly, that the North has broken away from the South, and is concentrating itself, as of old, around Peking, and that Ghina is to be torn once more by conflict between the two great" territorial factions, and in all', probability to be devastated anew by a sanguinary civil war. There seems to be no :possibility of establishing any system of-govern-ment based on the principle of national unity that would hold together for any length'of time all.these vast provinces, with their countless millions, separated by so many racial and linguistic distinctions. But -what are -we to think of ihe political wisdom of the British Labour Party, whieb, three years demanded the recognition of Chiang Kai-shek, now tottering to his fall, as rulerof thfe whole of China? °