BEHIND THE CABLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 170, 20 July 1936, Page 6

BEHIND THE CABLES.

ENGLAND WEEK BY WEEK. (By J. A. MULGAX and G. S. COX.) LOXDOX, Juno 27. Sun poured clown on England this week — it was niid-smnnior by the calendar and summer had come at last. Down at Wimbledon the championships had begun: each year it becomes more and more a social event. In Loudon the King's birthday and a colourful parade of the Guards. More and more visitors come over to London now. Fraiice is too expensive, struggling against an over-valued franc and the passing troubles of labour unrest; Italy lias been almost a closed country during those last few months; Germany is England's only serious competitor at the moment for tourist trade. And while the sun shines, everything in London and England generally seems very gay and prosperous—cars and well-dressed crowds in the streets, bands in the parks, pleasure boats on the river. _ (It is as well, perhaps, that Italy has not reciprocated with sanctions, for we should miss her organ-grinders and ice cream merchants from the Embankment oil these warm evenings.) As July runs on into August and the temperature goes on rising London will lose all those that can afford to leave, but just at the moment the town enjoys its summer season. The Sick Man of Europe. If there was any interest in international affairs during these last few days it centred round Turkey and the conference of Montreux. There the Powers interested —with the exception of Italy—are discussing the re-fortification of the Dardanelles and tiie .revision of the Treaty of Lausanne. In many ways these discussions seem a side issue, and they have aroused little interest in England, where a tired public opinion is turning restlessly over in an effort to know what foreign policy it should support; but there are many vague rumours circulating about events in the Mediterranean, and this conference may be more important than it seems. New Zealand will not lightly forget tlie importance of the Dardanelles. Even after the war, in 1022, when the victorious Turkish nationalists drove back a demoralised Greek army, it was England that held up the Turks by a show of force from violating the neutrality of tlie Straits. Tlie "Clianak crisis" was Mr. Lloyd George's last act of power; and if it did no other good, it at least showed the necessity for better communications between the different. Governments of the Empire. But many things have changed since then. Turkey is a good friend; Russia is the chief ally of France, round whom England's foreign policy in Europe builds itself; and there is little need for dispute over the Straits. What is more important and what is, as yet, being only vaguely hinted at. is the relation of all these Powers in the Mediterranean to Italy. During these last few years Italy has been pressing on Turkey along the coast of Asia Minor. She has strongly fortified tlie islands of the Dodecanese. There ai;e reliable reports that she is now supplying the Arabs in Palestine with arms. This week, in the House of Commons, questions were ask again, as to what evidence tlie Government had last year of a threatened Italian attack on Egypt—and the questions have not yet been satisfactorily answered. All this will perhaps tend to explain some of the uneasiness which appears occasionally in England when her "problems of the Mediterranean" are being discussed; and it can be safely assumed that more than the mere published discussions are now proceeding at Montreux. The Peasants' Revolt. London saw a strange spectacle on Wednesday of this week. Five thousand farmers, with, their wives and families, marched singing and shouting and carrying banners through the West End, from Victoria to Hyde Park, to protest against the Tithe Bill. It was a perfect day for haymaking, but they chose instead to come to London to make their protest. Rural England had not invaded London in the same way since the days of Jack Cade. Huge cheering crowds lined the streets, and the procession had all the enthusiasm of a march of triumph. There were speeches in Hyde Park, and then a deputation waited on the Prime Minister at Downing Street, only to find that he had a dinner engagement. . The English farmer is a rather different man from his Xew Zealand anti-type. The rules of his occupation seem more firmly established —-certainly the methods he employ's tend to be a little more conservative—he is probably less independent, and it takes more to rouse him to protest. It is certainly difficult to imagine a Xew Zealand farmer paying tithes —as well as rent —under an antiquated law that was laid down in the time of Queen Anne for the support of the Church. Xow protests against tithes have become a regular English institution. Hardly a week goes by without Queen Anne being burned in effigy at some local sale on distrained stock. This year it was hoped that the Government would remedy some of the injustices of the system with their Tithe Bill, but at the last moment it was defeated by back-bench Conservative members, and, as it stands now. sixty years must pass before thc-mnin abuses will be done away with. The English farmer has a very general sympathy. In many cases the tithes which he has to pay are not heavy, but it is felt to be unfair that he should bear the main charge of supporting tlie established Church —as well as a great many Oxford and Cambridge colleges—and the tithe has the great disadvantage of not varying according to changes in prices and conditions. Sooner or later this agitation is bound to be effective, and the farmer will not have made his protest in vain. Some Sayings of the Week. England and Parliament was mainly occupied in burying sanctions, but even this'melancholy operation had its brighter moments. For example, Major Atlec, Leader of the Opposition: "If Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, Abyssinia was lost on the playing fields of Harrow." (Both Mr. Baldwin and Sir Samuel Iloare were at Harrow.) And. again, of Mr. Anthony Eden. "What shall it profit a man if lie gains the whole world and loses the old school tie?" (Laughter and Opposition cheers.) But for the most part it was a sad affair, and when Mr. Eden and Haile Silassic left for Geneva to-day—travel-ling separately—they closed a chapter in the history of this country's foreign policy.