OVERSEAS OPINIONS

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 182, 29 April 1933, Page 16

OVERSEAS OPINIONS

Modernism. ••'Plie attraction of MuilernisiD lies largely in its name. We a.i wish to be up to date, and resent being .ailed old-fashioned. It is both nece.* <ary and right that old beliefs should be restated in the language of the Um.in which we live, and that account should be taken of all fresh additionlo our knowledge which are certain,* established, as far as it is possible tor such tilings | 0 be established, If Mod eruisin meant no more than this, no sensible person would hesitate to adopt as Ids own the words which Dr. Majoi piloted from Dr. Sunday: ‘1 do not disclaim the term Modernist. The name describes justly what I aim at being. I aim at thinking the thoughts and speaking the language' of my own day, ai,d vet. nt the same time, keeping all Hiaj is essential in the religion of tin- past." fjev. 11. P. V. Nunn, in bis “What :* Modernism ?” Friendships Between Nations. "One must always remember Hint friendships between ' nations cannot exist in the same sense as between individuals.” said Mr. Mellon, rite retiring U.S.A. Ambassador, in a farewell speech in London. ‘‘As individuals we can choose whom we like for friends: and. if we are wise, we can avoid business dealings with them. Blit this is not possible with nations, nor is it desirable. We must live as best we can with all of them, recognising that there must be a certain amount of give and take ami even irritation and misunderstanding, because no people can ever fully share another's point of view or correetlv visualise conditions in anol her country. The British and American people can .most nearly do this, perhaps. because we share so many things in common, not the least important of which. I am sometimes inclined to think, is common sense.” Business Men as Economists. ‘‘We have been obsessed for too long with the idea that the business man is an expert in finance and economics, lie is not. The average business man knows enough to run his own business well or badly, but in regard to general economic theories he is often a great deal more ignorant than many a working ih;id. Many of our business men. went on Dr. Blunt, “do not see how serious the issue is. Perhaps their minds are too much occupied in trying to keep.their businesses above water." —The Bishop of Bradford (Dr. Blunt). Lost Flower Scents. "What is happening to the scent of the flowers?” says Dr. Frederick Graves in "Chambers’s Journal.” 'I was asked one day as I walked round t lie garden with a friend. When I was a child, a pot of musk on a cottage wiitdow-sill or a box of. mignonette would scent the whole room—even the ■entire house. But now, the rose, the violet, the carnation, the swcetbriar. even the sweet-pea do not seem to exhale that strong and characteristic perfume of the old-time blooms, VVallflowers are growing scentless, and it is said that iu some districts the Lily ,',f the valicv Ims lost some of its onetime strong scent, (me can understand how the highly-cultivated nml hybridised forms of the garden and greenhouse bloom have lost some of, tlteit properties, since it seems that. Nature will not stand too much interference, mid we must pay in some form for the extra size and colour, etc., of tliesho'.v bloom ami the gorgeous new varieties. But. the humble wayside flowers of Ilia countryside?’’ A Census cf Distribution? "Al. the present time we do not even know precisely the number of retail mops of all kinds, let alone the number of outlets of different types. To remedy tills situation is a problem at once immediate and urgent; and lite remedy ought, in our opinion. Jo LtliW the form of a Census of Distribution. bitch a census on a national scale would yield such information as the nuinbei Lf shops of different kinds and forms of organisation—grocers, chemists, i rim mongers ; independent unit shops, chains or multiple, department store.: the main commodity lines handled, turnover, persons employed, stocks, operating expenses, credit ami '’ash business. .similar facts relating to wholesaling are no less essential. A Census of Distribution is an urgent national need. The loss and waste and nnnece.ssarv expense which result trout our present lack of the basic facts << distribution would pay the costs, ot such a census many limes over. Even in times like the present, when Hie strictest watch must lie kept over all expenditure, ignorance is Hi' 1 dearest wav of saving.”--From the report fit the' Provincial Planning Sub-committee of i lie British National Committee •'! the Interimliomil Chamber of Cominei'cc.

Hitman Love of Aiding. "The encouragement of acting in Milages is an admirable thing. It cti.iivates every art ami craft. It makes people rend etassic play.- and iiiodmn plays. It Ims a social purpose in which a common interest is a most valuable thing. Acting is inborn iu every woman ami every <•11101' man. The experiment of discovering this is womlcrlul. Pomelimes the sh.ve.-t turn out the he.-l actor-: often the same may be said of Ibe worst rehearsers. It is «ii l ‘. H * more important to uphold drama in the villages beeail-e of the gradual death of the provincial theatres, ilIhoiigb repertory theatres are taking their place to some extent. The provincial theatres have been badly <t.l bv 'talkies.' as musicians have been hit by broadcasting. Mechanisation idoilig away with the schools whereby acting can’ be learnt. In the village mmoment there is a ebaoee of replacin'.,' I hose theatres."- -Mr. It. I’. Sherrill'. author of ".Journey's End."

Naval Defence. "The Naw. according to Ihe figures i--ued. is asking for f5.0U3.70P more than it asked for last year. Of l his. irn le,s Ilian f2.tt55.3G0 is to go to new We need not deny that I lie oilieitil explanation i< impeccab.y correct. and Ilia' a 1D33 building programme of lour erui -ers, nine destroyers. three submarines, and .-ome smaliet craft is merely keeping pace with •normal progress' in naval runs, i ii'-i on There is no doubt that we have fallen behind in ■normal progress. I here ialso mi doubt llm I some of Imr co, in tries tire hard at work increasing llimr naval strength : both I'Tance and Italy, for example, have 25 new siihmarinos building. Blit these Navi Estimatemake gloomy reading, none the less ('.loom for the taxpayer, and still peeper gloom for all those who believon that whatever else the Disarmament Conference issued in it might al lea.-u produce some agreed paring down of l.lieso monstrous naval armaments, with which Hu' nalioms are burdened."- Tim ■Jiam-hester Guardian ’’

Eves cn Roosevelt. ‘••Ponderous as is President Roosevelt's immediate burthen, he will have to double it before long by taking fundamental decisions in international affairs as in domestic, it is not enougn for President Roosevelt to be America’s man. He must be the world’s man. Calmly, fearlessly, he must aim at the highest in international as in domestic affairs. There is no mediocre way for him. His name must be one of the greater names of history or nothing. In accent and action his beginnings suggest success” —Mr. J. L. Garvin, tn the “Observer.” Borrowing for Public Works. -There are many reasons," writes Sir Walter Layton in the "NewsChronicle,” whv borrowing for punlie works would be particularly advantageous at present. Interest rates are lower than tor very many years. There is no shortage of capital or labour tor such projects. To keep men in work instead of in idleness involves a sating not merely of money but of morale. There is no magic in public works. An expansion of general trade is vital fiefore we can return to even relative prosperity, and this cannot be brought about by ourselves alone. But as things stand, vast sums are being consumed in supporting the unemployed without their being able to contribute anything in return to the common weal, if projects of capital expenditure were put into effect, the houses and roads would remain as part of the national resources. It is hifch time, therefore, for our Government to act with something of Mr. Roosevelt’s energy and courage.” Relieving the 'Taxpayer. “There cannot be the slightest doubt that when once the Budget has been relieved, the relief should be used io reduce taxation. The reduction of taxation is far more than a meie tian--ferance of purchasing power, which is the only merit ascribed to it in some quarters. Nothing, in fact, is better designed to translate passive into active purchasing power. Indeed, with-, out a reduction of taxation the Government’s appeals for wise spending, and their devotion to the ideal of procuring a rise in prices by an increase in effective demand, must in too many cases be altogether worthless. Conditions both in this country and in the rest of the world have changed so profoundly since 1931 that it is quite safe to do now what it would have been suicidal to do then.”—“The Tinies' (London). A Favourite Poem. “The Queen I the late DowagerQueen Alexandra), had particularly asked me to translate from Danish into English her favourite hymn—the only work of its kind written by Olilenschlager, Denmark’s most famous poet, who is known as the Shakespeare of the North. 1 made my translation in such a metre that it could be set to the original music: “ ‘Teach me a mood content to fade. When Autumn’s yellow grass and blade Are better Spring’s forecasting; When green my tree eternal stands And deep its mighty roots expands In Summer Everlasting.’ “That is the first verse of the translation : the others follow through a simile in which, from a chrysalis on earth, a gorgeous butterfly emerges and wings its way upwards, ever upwards towards the distant shining Star of Bethlehem.”—From “There’s Rosemary,” by Princess Montesquieu Monlliie Siena, a Princess of the French Royal House, and a great admirer ol Queen Alexandra. Glut is Not Abundance. “'This abundance of the machine-age has become so obvious that lor the fiist time in his long struggle with the world, man lias become afraid of his creative power, lie calls a halt. Jt is as though God had rested before the seventh day. 'The flood of production increases, and man entleavotns to .stem the flood. He talks of surplus plant. of rationalisation. Concerns amalgamate, not to promote production, but to curtail our 100 exuberant creativeness. For the time, and only for the time, it may be politic to call it halt —until the science of distribution Ims caught up with the science 01. production, until demand ’has become effective, and the power to create Ims been equalled by the power to purchase. But to adopt this attitude as a permanent policy would he the ver.' depth of cowardice. If to-day there is glut and disequilibrium, the cause may well be. not that production has been too great, but that if has been too small: or rather too great in one part of the world, too small in another. ■While there is such unequal distribution of Hie productive and distributive power, it may well be that there will be glut. But glut is not abundance"— Mr. P. M. (diver in his "Genesis to Geneva."

Tlie Choice ter America. "It is not Great Britain but the United States which is faced with a choice of policies al Washington. Neither British opinion nor the facts which have moulded it leave the British Government any alternative but to stand out for a filial settlement of the debt for a relatively small capital paymen:, at the same time proffering collaboration in the World Economic Conference. The Government and people of the United States must choose between accepting that offer and forcing their debtor to default. Acceptance means an apparent immediate .sacrifice, with the opportunity, perhaps the last iu this generation, to recoup it many times over in a revival of general pro-peril’.. The alternative of a forced default by rhe debtor adds to the immediate sacrifice tin- pro-peel of embitiormellt and isolation in a world drifting into decay. We believe that when tlie American nation imilerslamis the -igni;ie.inec of its choice it will again throw h, its let with I lie world."—"The Bound Table." luliatiini.

: "In a debate in the House of l.’omHums at i.mawa." says Canada.'’ "wiieu !l;e lloii.se was discussing a motion for the investigation of the ddlcrcnee bet ween I lie prices of raw product' ami i he prices of goods manufactured Horn siu-b products, the question of watered ' stock was brought up. Il was stated that the Premier of Quebec, in one of , his public speeches. stiid that the powI er. paper. and pulp companies of East- ' eru Canada, with an original capital of .'tl» million dollars, had within a lew ; ’.ears enlarged and timiiieed themselves into fi capital of 711 millions.jind in his judgment the value of that 711 mib lions was to day not more than 25 millions. These pulp ami [taper com- • panies probably show the worst extimi pie of capital inllation. but there are ' other imlu-t rial enterprise- which also suffer from much watered capital.”