WORLD AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 262, 5 November 1931, Page 6

WORLD AFFAIRS.

A WEEKLY REVIEW,

(By BYSTANDER.) It is not easy to write about the British elections within reasonable limits of time and space. The mere fact that the Nationalists have secured 553 seats in the new House of Commons against 62 seats held by the Opposition is sufficiently overwhelming, especially when Ave remember that 470 of these representatiA'es of the people are avoAved ConserA'atiA 7 es. The only rational explanation appears to be the obvious one that the people, collectively, even the unemployed, had become really alarmed at the extravagance and inefficiency of the Labour Government, and had determined to change their rulers. Remarkable proofs of the accuracy of this diagnosis are to be found in many of the election returns. At Burnley, where Arthur Henderson AA r as so decisively beaten, one-third of the people in the electorate are out of Avorkj and at Blackburn, Avliere two Conservatives displaced two Socialists, just about fifty per cent of the residents arc unemployed. But the Leader of the Labour Opposition persists in his complaint that "the electors Avere duped on a grand scale," that his old colleagues and allies "have fallen victims to an electior plot," that the panic-stricken electors "have been stampeded to an extent unparalleled in British politics," and that consequently the neAv House of Commons will be "a mockery of democratic representation." There is some truth in this last charge, for the Labour A-ote of between six and seven millions Avas quite fifty per cent of the total votes recorded for the Conservatives. But though this is a strong argument in favour of proportional representation or some other electoral reform, it has little to do Avith the general outcome of the contest. It seems to me that the Paris "Matin" gets very much closer to the truth Avhen it tells us that the people of England "have shown a determination to. react strongly against a policy of disorder and Avaste," and that this is the real secret of Labour's doAvnfall.

Tariffs and Conferences. Without speculating too rashly about the political consequences of this remarkable reaction, we may fairly take it for granted that one of its immediate effects will be the modification of Britain's fiscal pol:cy. Whether the new Government will at once levy the proposed 10 per cent duty on foreign imports for revenue purposes, whether it will definitely attempt to protect British manufactures in the home market, whether it will go so far as to tax foodstuffs in any shape or form—these matters still "lie on the knees of the gods." But the Dominions are very directly interested in all these questions, because, if Free Trade once "goes by the board", at Home, the chief objection to Imperial Reciprocity will disappear. This is the principal reason that the Nationalist victory has been the signal for an immediate demand for an Imperial Conference to reconsider the trade relations between Britain and her oversea dependencies. Mr. Bennett, . who on. behalf of Canada, made the one definite offer submitted to Britain at the last conference, suggests that the Conference projected for next year should be convened as soon as possible, allowing for the New Zealand elections and the sessions of the British and Canadian Parliaments. Mr. Forbes has told our own representatives that he does not expect such a conference to be called at any early date, and he disclaims any responsibility for the suggestion. At the same time there is no doubt that the indefinite postponement of the projected Imperial Economic Conference which was to have been held at Ottawa this year has caused disappointment throughout the Empire, and that, more especially in view of the coining change in policy indicated by the defeat of Labour at Home, the Dominions would be gratified by the decision to summon another Imperial Conference under ■ conditions very different from those that obtained last year, when their representatives were brought to London "principally to waste time," and to learn from the Imperial authorities that the case was already decided against them.

The Australian Strike. The threatened Australian seamen's strike has collapsed and the majority of the men are anxious to get back to their jobs as quickly as possible. A week ago the moderate section of the Sydnejr Seamen's Union were howled down, and at an adjourned meeting the "Red" element by organised disorder prevented their opponents from carrying the proposed resolutions. Meantime Mr. Scullin had explained to Parliament the trivial and frivolous nature of the pretext on which the strike had been called, and Colonel Campbell, the leader of the New Guartf, had notified the authorities and the general public that in case of trouble he and his followers were ready to "give a hand." But the threat of a strike which would have paralysed the whole Commonwealth and imposed an • intolerable burden upon the masses already struggling against unemployment and poverty, seems to have roused the moderates to action, and at a further meeting, at which they outnumbered the "Reds" by four to one, they decided that the men should go back to work at once. The irrepressible Jack Johnson (once Jacob Johanscn) tried in vain to stem the tide, but was "counted out," and there is little doubt that the Seamen's Union Conference at Melbourne will follow Sydney's lead and officially call the strike off. How Strikes Are Made. Perhaps the most interesting feature of this remarkable situation is the person directly responsible for the original quarrel between the Seamen's Union and the shipowners. As Mr. Scullin explained at Canberra, Joseph Sehellcy was born a German, and is a naturalised Britisher. But by no stretch of imagination can he be described as a seaman, for he was not at sea between 1923 and 1931, and his marine ' experiences, have covered about a fortnight altogether in eight or nine years. . Moreover, Mr. Schelley's postal address is Communist headquarters at Sydney, where he has apparently spent liis time in co-operation with the Bolshevik agents of the Third International, who are trying to "white ant" Australia. This man, who had been employed temporarily to fill the place of a disabled seaman, was dismissed when the other man recovered, and he and his friends, on the plea of "victimisation," stirred up all this trouble. There is no doubt that the man is a professional Communist agitator, and this strike, like the recent trouble with the slaughtermen, has been deliberately planned to aid in the good work of disorganising and destroying

Australian commerce and industry. Happily the common sense of the average Australian has reasserted itself in time, but how much longer is this sort of thing to go on? The other clay the Country Women's Association of New South Wales protested vehemently against the teaching of alleged Communist principles in the country schools; and this week, at Broken Hill, the boys at the High School hoisted the red flag, adorned with the Bolshevik hammer and sickle, on the flagpole and solemnly sang "Solidarity for Ever" round it. If the children of Australia arc being systematically trained in these pcrnicious doctrines, the Commonwealth will soon reap a bitter harvest for its supines and apathy. •