LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 33, 9 February 1939, Page 27

LONDON LETTER.

WAR ECONOMICS.

LEAGUE CUTS BUDGET.

BOMB-PROOF CAR PARKS

(Fn<m Our Own Corrr^spunilpnt.) LONDON', Juniiary 13. Tnr l!..i!n. com oration* between Xrr. ( hinil-.-rl.i n hihl Si-no,- Mussolini huvp hroiisrhi ihe SpHtiioh war npain into the lon' 1r..i1l of politic*. Olive more people ~... I'i hi- 1., intimate tln< I'lmni'iy ~f III." n|,;.,,,i,,. r sifl,.;,, an< | ~, Hoh(i (hp >"> •'''' N "'' l"' w n ••'iinpiiiiitivelv poor " ,,ln,l > ' '" -" '•" nmiiuin- a nindcri, w.ir fur Uμi and ii half years. Lcavin" mil. of iirc.iiint military nfhantagw and tl«» temper of the rival armies. Franc, ii[ipi'iir« to have an economic superiority. ll' i> now estimated to have bad £::it.iM>i>.nno from Italy and £7,000,(mi0 ffini 10-rni.in.v not in cash, but in rrr.lm for the purchase of war niaterial. ll.' iil-i lih- it Ihi-vc M torliii»s credit in |on,|..n. riiM m I.e.HUrte Hrit.iin e<.n " n, " ''" lin > -hi't-rv ..ml inahi-a wim« ' «•;;'■".» bitn-iiiiiK iron, U'nitorv " " !| ' """■ '"'-"I-. Hi* n.nlrnl of |; :, ■-." '■«"" , "l <"pper mines A ~,,,„. I" ' ' '"' ' l " ,1 '"iiipiiiiie* to puy Mli-i-l- ---'"-' '"'■ u '"kin- and i-\ porting the lin-lal. lII.' i;..U'niMii'iil side «fnrte<l with the !.!■_' nlv. ml, iL-e* nf the -old i. — ive of the Hank of Spain, which at Ihe In-innm- of the war, was one "I the lnjh.xt in Kiiriipc, and i« still 'I'iiiimml In I leipmtf. If Knuico has iron. th<> Covernmi'iit territory incliiden the richi'ftt mi-rcniy mine« in the world. The Ki'piililicatiH are also ruisin™ c<, n ! nidiTnl.li' sums by selling orun-es,"which Inn.' always btvn Sjiaine bijr-'est, export item. ' ' League to Cost Less. Even the (ieiievn ..Hieing admit that the l.en-iie nf Nation* no longer carries the sumo weisrht in world nffiiirs that it once did, and they are now considering wuyit <>f cuttiiifcr down the establishment t<» a nu»ro modest size. The ai.ni i« to lediKHi U'li-ne expenditure by one-fifth Iμ hudgpt this year i« tI.(IdO.fWK). ami tho u-w economic*.will begin in 1940. The United Kingdom, the Dominion* mid India between them provide more than oneliftli of the League's expenditure, mill they will, therefore, gain most )>y the economic*. Britainm i« the larj;e*t <<inj.'lo contribution, aniountin<» to Cimi.OIMI this year. Canada's sutweription U £.VJ,t)O(), Australia's £34,0t!<) South AfricaV, £24,000. New Zealand's £12.1)00 and India's jC7I,(K)O. Most of tho money $r<>e« t<. pay the salaries, of Leaμll« official*. Individual pay is not hiph—oven the He<Tetarv-<;enoral pets only £.4500—but the etaif is enormous. Making A.R.P. Pay. One of tho bluest problem* in air raid precautions la t<, devise a echvrue for ehcltere which will not be entirely iihclim* in time of peace—or if war does not come after all. This i« the idea behind the sujrgeetion that refugee cHiup* of wooden huts should )>c built In tho country for women and children, and used in (>eaeetlme a* holiday homes. It U more difficult to think of any alternative use for a bomb-proof uhelter in ti city, which muet also be extremely cewtly to build. ' But a proposal will soon be laid before the Government for "killing two birds with one etone" by conetructing air raid nheltera underneath London Nquare* which would, in peace-time, solve one of the moet preeelnjr motorinjr prohle/ns—shortage of garage* and parking places. The scheme ie to epend a hundred of million pound* on a eerie* of underground ear-parke. They would bo *>Oft below th* surface, bomb-proof and equipped with gas-proof doors and first-did appliance*, «o that they could instantly bo used as refugee in case of war. Until war come*, they would partly, if not wholly, pay for themselves as garages.. Motorists would be charged 3d an hour for leuvinjr cars there. Germany v. Russia. That "representative cross-section of the population" neeme quite tireless in answering the questions posed by the equally, tireless Britbth Institute of Public Opinion. Thie week it published answers to a whole string of queries, ranging from world politic* to the domestic hearth. Ono asked /or views on a possible war between farnuiny and Russia. Aβ many as If) per cent of the people questioned naid they would like to see 'formally win such a war; 59 per cent wonl<l cheer a Soviet victory—probably more from dislike of the Nazie than from any strong "Red" sympathies. I ho romaining 31 per cent did not care which side won. Queried on matters nearer home showed that 88 per cent favoured an inereaee in old-age pensions, now 10/ a week. Considering tho tremendous cpread of the building society movement. It Is unexpected to find that only l> per rent of tho "representative croessectlon" nre buying their homes, 15 per ent already own them, while 76 per cent are rent-payer*. A pointless querv 'ibout pets showed that 40 per cent keep dogs, and 37 per cent prefer cate. Channel Tunnel Once More. Hope eeems to spring eternal in the breast* of Channel Tunnel educates, 'ney have been pegging away for 00 J';'«rM. Sow the project has been reeved yet again, this time from the jreneh eide. The present proposal is 'or two railway tunnel* and a road tunnel inking England and France. They would take five year* to complete anil cost about £22,000,000. No one expects the plan to be adopted immediately by either the British or the French Government, but eventually the tunnel advocates will surely wear down opposition. The ffrowth of air power i* a factor which neipa the scheme in two ways. Firstly, « becomes ridieulow to talk of the tunnel laying Britain open to the ri*k °* invasion, when bombers can fly •wom the Channel in a few minutes. secondly, the tunnel would be a safe weans of transporting food and euppliee fan Tu ° f War ' when ehi PPinff would »w the risk of air bombardment as w ej| as torpedo attack. Kampf Over "Mein fCampf." Whilo a storm i 9 blowing up In America over rival publUnVn' intcn"one to bring out an unexpurgated edition of Hitler'. "Alein Karnpf." the •wme famous book is causing bickerin London. The Kngllsh version " "ie "Xajsi BibJe" is abridged to only lout one-third of the volume Hitler I 1 WnnUy wrote. Some of the most) ""noun passage* have been cut out, '■'U'ling attack* on France, details of r "" iuehrpr'B military dreams and *'.""**. of his fiercest denunciations of l»e Ji.'ws.