ONLY A SPARK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 142, 17 June 1936, Page 10

ONLY A SPARK.

"GUNPOWDER PLOT." SURVEY OF EUROPE TO-DAY. MR. B. DUNNINGHAM'S VIEWS. * A picture of Europe as it is to-day, with its peoples in constant dread of War —yet with the knowledge that it is inevitable —was given this morning by Mr. Brian Dunningham, a New Zealander who has. had every opportunity of gaining first-hand knowledge of the situation. Mr. Dunningham returned fc.y the Wanganella after fourteen months epent abroad, during which he made a study of national and international conditions. He describes European relations at the moment as being "a gunpowder plot," the Continent being a magazine needing only a spark to explode it. Mr. Dunningham rei't jSTew Zealand with no definite object in view other than a health trip, with study as a side-

line. Circumstances gave a much greater importance to his tour. In the United States he made the acquaintance of the Dean of Canterbury on a tour there, and accompanied him as his secretary through Canada, where among other things he was a guest at the Alberta ranch of His Majesty King Edward. With influential introductions, he and his wife later toured the Continent, spending the greater portionof the time in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and then Great Britain and Ireland, returning home by way of Suez, Malay States, Sumatra, Java and the Eastern route. "War Inevitable." "The people of Europe generally want to avoid war at any cost, but they despair of avoiding it," he said. "Those who speak with authority and _ with inside information hold that it is inevitable."

To Germany lie pointed as tlie focal point at the . preseri't time. In that country/ with its intense .nationalism, its Fascist propaganda and its censorship, war was held to lie the only solu 1 tion to the present financial troubles. "Peace with depression, war with prosperity," was the slogan that was everywhere being preached, and side by side with this factor was the fact tliat Germany was by far the best prepared country in Europe.

Austria and Hungary would be with her, bound not by any great liking for Germany, but by the similar ideas that are held there and the fact that they are small countries, who have a knowledge of Germany's military preparedness. Occupation of Rhine. The occupation of the Rhine by Germany, accepted as a threat to France, was only a minor act in a much bigger play that Germany had planned, he said. His information, gained from influential sources, supported the cabled advice that what Germany really wanted was a piece of Russia." Her eyes were 011 the southern portion of Russia, with its oil fields, the grain lands of the Ukiaine, and the other natural resources that made it the richest part of Russia. 111 his visit to Germany Mr. Dunnincham saw many evidences of military preparedness. All the best of the men between 18 and 30 years of age were trained and ready, and she was hi°"hlv mechanised. On one trip he saw a section of 12 tanks and other mechanised units under operation, and further alon-v a further assembly of mechanised units'. ( The Rhine was lined, with newly elected 'warehouses and factories,'' that would serve (and perhaps -were already serving) as stores for munitions and other warlike goods. A Road of War. From Heidelberg to MaTCjv* the Rhine was what was prohaWv the' finest highway in the worfd . . " and it was unmistakably a military road. It_ was a concrete structure sufficiently wide to take at least eight trucks abreast, and its side roads were so arranged that there was no chance of any hold up to any advance along it. Many of the cross-roads were ramped to pass underneath, and the main road itself passed over the top of railway lines and. in many cases, whole villages. Referring to the internal aspect of Germany, Mr. Dunniiigham said that Hitler was worshipped by the people through the activities of Dr. Goebbels. Propaganda was 100 per cent efficient, and censorship was rigid.

France was not looking for war, said Mr. Cunningham, but here again wellinformed people held it to be inevitable. What they feared most tvas the prospect of internal revolution, which would conie either during or after a war. It would bo a dictatorship, probably of financial interests, and fantastic": in form. It was not known where it was coining from, though the aim of the Croix do Fou (Cross of Fire) movement was towards a dictatorship.

Mr. Dunninghain did nit visit Russia, as he found that only organised tours were allowed, and. they were strictly supervised. lie had heard from engineers who had worked there, however, that Russia had made considerable progress and would soon be starting to put goods out on the open market. Results were not as good as had been expected, as the Russians had not proved good engineers. Militarfetically, Russia was well prepared and she had the reputation of having the most efficient air force in the world. That had yet, however, to be put to the test. It was known that she feared Germany and was glad to have France as an ally. In every country in Europe, Mr. Dunninghain found a similar condition of affairs, and a common dread of a war, which was, nevertheless, held to be inevitable. In his words, again: "It is just a gunpowder plot—awaiting the spark."