NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 96, 17 January 1929, Page 8

NOTES OF THE DAY

It may be that the Kellogg Peace Pact may not represent the millennium, but it is a considerable achievement to secure the approval of the United States Senate to this agreement. President Coolidge is reported to have expressed the opinion that the Pact was the most important subject before the Senate during his term of office. It certainly marks an impressive departure from the aloof attitude which the Senate has adopted in the past when called on to commit the United States in matters of foreign policy. The chief benefit likely to accrue is 'closer co-operation in the movement towards world peace. Mutual good-will and mutual trust are the only safe foundation on which to build security against war.

There can be little doubt that the future of aviation depends more and more on the ability to construct huge air liners. So far out-sizes in aeroplanes have not given the satisfaction expected of them. Even nature has severely limited her aeroplanes to a modest size. In the days when she was experimenting in hugeness she failed to launch into the air any flesh-and-blood machine much bigger than a small aeroplane. To-day the terrors of the Pterydactyl are no longer with us. Our largest bird lias a wing-span considerably under twenty feet and weight has been cut down to a fine art. Thanks to metal, man can build things proportionately greater, but in the case of aeroplanes above a certain size there is still considerable conjecture. The only way is to try and see what happens.' Little by little ships have grown bigger and bigger until to-day we have liners that would have been considered utterly impracticable half a century ago. It will be the same with air liners. There is much to be gained in hugeness in the air if it is found practical, for the useful load carried becomes a greater proportion of the total weight.

As far as Britain is concerned it is always easier to hold diplomatic relations with a definite ruler than with a weak-governing group. Particularly is this the case in small States. For this reason alone problems on the Afghan frontier will be made no easier by the abdication of Amanullah at this critical moment. Afghanistan has always been a ticklish spot, it lies athwart an important caiavan route, and it is an area of almost continuous guerrilla warfare. . Since the occupation of India this area has been a sort of Tom Tiddlers ground, mostly useful as a training-ground for the Indian Army. A reformed buffer State with a not unfriendly dictator at the head would have been a valuable asset. It has not been only holy men who have been taking a part in proceedings round about the gateway to India. More than likely the holy men could tell not a few tales of emissaries from Russia if they felt inclined to speak. One must admit that the initial moves in the game in Afghan turned out not unfavourably to Britain. The subsequent moves which have been more or less beyond her control have temporarily created a check-mate. The very capricious nature of rule by holy men, the secretiveness of their proceedings, and the difficulty to discover who is really ruling, may cause a check for some considerable time.