WORLD AFFAIRS.

Auckland Star, Issue 17, 21 January 1932, Page 6

WORLD AFFAIRS.

A WEEKLY REVIEW, (By BYSTANDER.) There is 110 doubt that Australia is recovering rapidly from the worst effects of tlie economic depression, and also from the financial panic into which it was plunged through the insane projects of Mr. Lang and his friends; but New South Wales is still the dark spot on the horizon. Mr. Lyons, who, it should not be forgotten, was originally a Labour leader, lias just told the people of New South Wales that there will not be much hope for them or for Australia till they 1 «ct rid of the Lang regime; and in Sydney itself 1 public feeling seems to be working up to explosive ' point. Colonel Campbell, the commander of the New Guard, has been summoned for using insulting language auout Lang; and though the case was adjourned, the Premier is not likely to arouse much public sympathy. Mr. Lang objects to being called "an old man of the sea," and lie is also sensitive about such epithets as "buffoon" and "nasty tyrant." Possibly the Court will hold that these terms are -actionable, and Colonel Campbell may find the luxury of describing Mr. Lang as a "scoundrel" a trifle expensive. But the New Guard has not confined itself to vituperation. It has kept down the "Red" element in Sydney quite successfully, and just now it is organising a monster petition to the Governor urging him to dissolve Parliament and give the people a chance of dealing with "disloyalists and Communists." The Red Peril. It seems to me unfortunate that, in any civilised community, the people should ever be forced to take the law into their own hands. But though the actions of the New Guard and its commander must be very largely illegal, I do not see that the people in New South \Y...'s, who do not approve of Communism or any otner form of industrial tyranny, have any alternative. The petition to the King arscrts "that the State Government lias protectc.. Commui—j and other disloyal elements, neglected to prosecute, seditionmongers and revolutionaries, made school buildings available to disloyal persons who advocated sedition, repudiated its just debts, and appointed disloyal persons to the Legislative Council"; and it appeals for protection against the grave infringement of the people's rights threatened by the disruptive and disloyal Communist movement. And no reasonable man can doubt that the danger thus described is real and menacing. A short time ago there was a riot at Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory, and six Communists were arrested and sent to gaoi. Their comrades demanded their release, and the i ordered "all the unemployed iii the North" to march on Darwin, threatening that, if the police used firearms, the "Reds" would bomb the who'j town -udiscriminately. To some people this may sound like "hot air," but there is plenty of evidence in support of the view that it ought to be taken seriously. Is It Civil War? A week ago some detectives found in a house in the outskirts of Sydney a considerable stock of arms and! munitions —hundreds of Winchester bullets and rounds of cartridges, gunpowder, ="ino rifles and shotguns, and tools.for the manufacture of bullets, iiie occupier of the in use who was "on t lie dole," was arrested, and the police evidently thought the matter worth taking trouble over. But in Melbourne, a short time before, the local detectives made a mu .l more startling discovery. They arrested a man at r .»■>.. Cray, a densely populated suburb, in the middle of the night, carrying on his bicycle a bag with 00,000 cartridge discs. _ Tliey took him to his house, and there they found a ton and a half of shot, 30,000 cartridge caps, cartrMgo wads, with gelignite detonators, coils of fuses, and all the tools required tor turn.-ig out anr um.tioji on a large scale. There is no more and no less reason for the con... on and equip ncnt of private arsenals in -.eibourne than there is in Sydney, and, failing, any other plausible explanation, the general public will continue to believe that suc'.i elaborate preparations indicate a resolve on the part of the revolutionaries to appeal to force when their chosen moment comes. All these tilings, taken together, have seriously alarmed the lawabiding majority in Australia, and they are waiting anxiously for the new Government to carry out its threat of dealing vigorously with Communism. Already Mr. Latham as AttorneyGeneral has submitted to the Cabinet proposals for an amendment of the Crimes Act so as to facilitate the collection of evidence for restrictions on the importation of Communist literature and for "an examination of the constitutional position as it affects deportation." It is clear that the people of Australia arc anxious to clean out the Commonwealth, and they have good reason to look forward eagerly to the day when all who arc. actively plotting for the violent destruction of the. existing political and social system shall receive sentence of exile. " Owning a Mayor." I have taken the title from one of the chapters in "Stand and Deliver," a very recent book dealing with municipal corruption in New York. The special occasion for these remarks is the news just supplied by cable that New York is practically bankrupt, and that the city fathers are now making a desperate effort to bring pressure to bear on the banks to induce them to advance more money for the relief of the unemployed and the destitute. In desperation, Mr. J. J. Walker, the Mayor of New York, has appealed to the Federal Government to compel the banks to lend him the money. But the banks have answered that "extravagance and corruption" have so completely undermined the credit of New York that they will do nothing. This sounds like a grave reflection on Mayor Walker. But there is practically no law of libel in America and, anyhow, Mr. Walker ought to be used to it by this time. In "Stand and Deliver," the book which I mentioned above, the author explains this by describing the methods in which concessions have been granted in the past by the First Magistrate of New York City. Granting a Franchise. In July, 1020, Mayor Walker granted the Equitable Company a certain concession in 50 seconds. Having secured the necessary vote beforehand, he brought the matter before the Board of Estimates or Finance Committee, at which several hundred citizens were present prepared to protest against the concession. Mayor Walker opened the meeting, skipped 13 items on the agenda paper, moved that "No. 14," granting the franchise, be adopted, and declared the motion carried. No one had a chance to speak or object, and several representatives of other companies rose to protest. To the first the Mayor said, "We will not allow you to use the Board to get a lot of publicity for yourself," and ordered a policeman to remove him. A second objector rose, but the Mayor at once said, "You are through . speaking." "But I haven't started," said the. objector. "You may not know it, but you have concluded your address," replied the Mayor, beckoning to another policeman, and so the meeting closed. Several law suits were started i to nullify the franchise on the plea that the resolution in its favour was illegally voted, that it sacrificed public interest and revenue, that it gave no definite promise of suitable public service, and that the minutes of the meeting had been deliberately falsified to cover the action of the Mayor. And yet Mayor Walker is surprised ■ when the banks, refuse to lend the municipality of New York any more money 1