WORLD AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 227, 25 September 1930, Page 6

WORLD AFFAIRS.

A WEEKLY REVIEW. (By BYOTANDER.) The excitement over the German elections has by no means subsided yet. President Hindenburg has appealed to the ex-Chancellor, Dr. Bruening, to form a new Cabinet, which is to include all the moderate sections of the Reichstag, but musr absolutely exclude the Hitlerites. It is quite probable that Bruening, with the help of the Centre and the Social Democrats, who will stand by the Republic to the last, will be able to organise a "bloc" strong and coherent enough to hold off the attack of the Nationalist Socialists whom Hitler controls. But for the moment Germany has two serious dangers to fear. In the first place, there is the threat of a "catastrophic foreign policy." The "Steel Helmets," encouraged by the Hitlerite successes at the polls, are already working up public protests against the restrictions imposed by the Peace of Versailles upon German armaments; and at a great celebration, to be held at Potsdam, next Saturday, Hitler will appear at the head of a military organisation attended by four generals and a military staff. Evidently every effort is to be made to impress upon the German people the need for arming themselves to secure "justice" from their foreign tyrants. But apart from this, there is the menace of an armed revolution to overthrow the Republic, accompanied by such sanguinary violence as is suggested by Dr. Goebel, Hitler's henchman, in his ominous hint of a "pogrom" against the Jews. Naturally the Jews, who form a large percentage of the most intelligent, liberal-minded and progressive section of the community," are the worst enemies that absolutism has to fear.. But it now looks as if the, prospects of a Dictatorship in Germany are not very alluring after all. For there is a rumour that the Attorney-General has been instructed to indict Hitler and Goe"bel for high treason; and Hindenburg, whom everybody trusts, has given a public assurance that the Constitution is *not in danger. A Good Loser. Though Sir Thomas Lipton has not realised his long-cherished ambition of carrying off the America Cup, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he has made a good fight, and that he has won very high praise from his opponents. To be acclaimed as "the best loser in the world" is a compliment on which any man may well congratulate himself. But these last races have made it even clearer than before that the task set the challengers by the rules under which this contest is conducted is really an impossible one. Even in America it is realised that the conditions which compel the challenger "to build a boat conforming with American specifications, to sail her across the seas on her own bottom, and to race her along a coast whose weather and wind cannot possibly be familiar to the challenger's skipper," must inevitably combine to keep the Cup in America. But there have been other developments which put Sir T. Lipton's boat under an even heavier handicap. The American boat was fitted throughout with mechanical devices which, according to an American expert, "did things that no human being could equal," while the Shamrock depended wholly on manpower. This reliance upon labour-saving machinery and other • ingenious "gadgets" certainly tends to rob the splendid sport of yachting of the element of human skill which is its most attractive factor; and in this respect as'well the conditions under which such contests are conducted need revision. A Wonderful Achievement. The 'linking-up of the two curved limbs which form the great bridge that now bestrides Sydney Harbour has been successfully completed by placing the steel keystones in position at the top of the arch. This in itself was a very remarkable achievement, for the calculations of the designer and the engineers had to be carried to an extraordinary pitch of accuracy, so that everything should fit together properly. The steel keystones cover a gap of about six inches; but it was necessary to allow a margin of error of two inches either way, to provide for "unavoidable uncertainties as to the physical properties of the steel, and errors of manufacture, setting-out and estimate of temperature." As to this last point, it was necessary to wait for a day when the 24 thermometers scattered along the bridge all registered the same temperature—about 60 deg — so as to calculate exactly the size of the keyplates required. As things turned out, the keyplates proved to be within one half-inch of their allotted dimensions—a degree of accuracy which under the circumstances, seems almost incredible The error in one of the 60ft girders was not more than one-fiftieth part of an inch. This sort of thing is calculated to enhance our admiration foi human skill. But splendidly as the work seems to have been done, Sydney will pay heavily for it. The original estimate for the bridgeincluding cost of land resumptions—was £5,750,000. The bridge has cost £6,812,000 so far, and it is now estimated that its final cost will be at least £8,750,000. These figures may supply a useful object-lesson to public bodies contemplating works of this type on our side of the Tasrnan Sea. A comparison between estimates and costs for New Zealand's public works during the past twenty years or so would be amusing if it were not so painfully depressing. Soviet Wheat. A few months ago the International Labour Office at Geneva issued its annual report, and the Director, M. Albert Thomas, the distinguished French Socialist-Radical, made a special note of certain tendencies now being manifested by the Russian Soviet. "The old trend towards isolation and a self-sufficient policy in all regards and toward hostility in respect to the rest of the world" is again in evidence, and in the opinion of M. Thomas this is the inevitable consequence of the revival of Communist doctrines in Russia in their most extreme form. He concludes that, in spite of all economic disadvantages that may result, Russia "is setting out to isolate herself from and to organise herself against the rest of the-world." A remarkable piece of evidence which seems to justify M. Thomas' prediction is the selling of Avheat "futures" on a huge scale by the Soviet Government on the American market. It is believed that these operations total at least 15,000,000 bushels, and their effect in depressing the price of wheat in a market already weak and overstocked has been most disastrous. The Americans have protected themselves against direct importation by a heavy duty, but these immense sales "for forward delivery" have completely paralysed the market for the moment. The secret of Russia's success in this' remarkable "deal" lies in the fact that her wheat is produced under a "nationalist" or communal system by the State, and that after the Russian people are supplied the Soviet Government can afford to sell it at any price, without really incurring a loss. Jt is a remarkable situation, and it involves very serious danger to all the wheat growers who depend on their own capital and initiative, and who find themselves suddenly faced by a rival whose economic system means a tremendous handicap in his favour. Is this "bear" movement in wheat part and parcel of the Soviet "Offensive Against the World":of which M. Thomas warned Europe a few months ago?