OVERSEAS OPINIONS

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 17, 14 October 1933, Page 20

OVERSEAS OPINIONS

American Labour’s New Charter. “One of the most gratifying features from the Labour point of view Is the great accession of membership to the trade unions,” writes Miss Margaret Bondfleld, ex-Minister of Labour, in t he “Daily Herald,” on the situation in America of which she made a special study during her recent visit. This is a direct result of the official recognition by Roosevelt of the place which trade unions ought to play in the national recovery. There is a clause in the code, which forms the first trade union charter- in the country’s history for the American workman and which lias given him confidence for the first time, that if he joins a union he will not be victimised. In Washington I heard that the miners had enrolled one hundred thousand new members in a week, and from later reports this rate of enrolment seems to be maintained. Other trade union organisers reported great Increases in membership, but they are working under the handicap of having no money in hand to put organisers on tlje field, most of the I union? having exhausted the whole of ! their reserve funds. They are making the fullest use of the codes as an argument In favour of Trade Unionism.” German Shipping Boycott.

The effect, and, Indeed, the intention, of the German order is to prevent any German from booking in Germany a passage in a foreign ship, and to deny that right even to foreign residents, unless they happen to be already in possession of sufficient foreign exchange for the passage. Obviously, under such conditions, foreign shipowners would be compelled to close their passenger offices in Germany, and nothing would be left to the British lines of the equality vouchsafed to them by Treaty. The most charitable view which can be taken of the 111-considered action of the German Government is that they had simply forgotten the terms of the Trade Treaty with Britain. Now that they have been made aware of those terms, the least to be expected of them is that they will at once revoke the offending order in compliance with the British request. Certainly the last thing desired by this country is anything in the nature of a war of reprisals, with all the embitterment of international feeling which It Involves, to say nothing of the disturbance to trade. It may therefore be hoped that the dispute will be settled with as little further argument as possible.—“ Morning Post” (London). The Drowning Season.

Too many people treat the sea as though, on any particular piece Of coast, there was nothing to be learned about It They bathe near the mouths of rivers or at low water without ever having seen the nature of the bottom on which they enter; they ignore channels and sandbanks and venture where a simple inquiry would keep them out of harm. The careless Spirit of holidays sometimes exacts a fearful penalty. But since, however careful people are, there will be accidents, the resorts should stretch to the utmost their provision for bathers’ safety. Some places are already well known for their care. Most of all, perhaps, we may gain by addressing the young: by teaching them to swim, to keep their heads, to know how to help others, and, especially, to take nothing for granted about the Incalculable sea.-—“ Manchester Guardian." Empire Wheat.

The restoration of prosperity in Canada and Australia depends in large measure on an advance in the price of wheat, which is now being sold at a figure ruinous to their farmers. We have yet to see whether the International conference in London next week will be able to Improve matters. The difficulties are very real. But a preliminary understanding has been reached between the United States, Canada, Australia, and the Argentine which may smooth the way to some system of restricting exports. In our own case our farmers are to some extent protected against any further disastrous slump in wheat by the quota system and the wheat guarantee. We hope, however, that the British Government will watch the negotiations with the utmost vigilance and will remember that British agriculture cannot on any account be sacrificed. — “Daily Mall.” The Future of Austria.

The voluntary entry of a free State into a federal union is a very different thing from the crushing of a reluctant, struggling Austria by force into a Prussian military State, which is what Herr Hitler’s Germany really is, without any guarantees either for local autonomy or for the elementary rights of the Austrian minorities. Dr. Dolfuss has maintained himself long enough now in very difficult circumstances to make it plain that he must have very considerable support among his countrymen behind him. It would be strange If he had not; for a Nazi victory means obviously the total extinction politically of Austria; while the fate of the quarter of a million .Tews and the half-million Socialists handed over to the tender mercies of the Nazis will not hear thinking a bout. —“News-Chronicle” (London). Australia’s Defences.

Official admissions of the weakened condition of the British Navy and its inability to assure the defence of the

outer Empire against a strong enemy could not leave this country unmoved. The relative decline of British naval power in these waters itself creates | an emergency. The other and more delicate matter, containing seeds of possible mischief, is the challenge from i certain quarters of the right of Japan, should she leave the League, to retain mandate control of the ex-German Pacific islands. Japan’s strategic interest in these possessions is obvious. On all these counts the arousing of concern over Australia’s present defenceless state is natural enough. Prom an attitude of indifference towards de-■ fence matters after the war, public opinion is swinging back to a lively interest. Perhaps it is not solely significant of the crowding of all professions for boys that for the 12 vac- > ancles for entrants to the reopened i Naval College there were, we understand. 550 young Australians sitting for the recent examinations. It would bo Interesting to observe the response to a reopening of general recruiting for the Australian Navy.—" Sydney Morn- J Ing Harald.” (

Russia’s Empty Stomach. “Most of the anecdotes which circulate in Moscow express the irony of a hungry people. There is the conundrum, ‘Who are the greatest eaters in the-world?’ to which the answer is: ‘The Russians, because they can easily eat up a week’s rations in a day? Then there is the imaginary debate about the efficacy of the American and Soviet political systems. 'Think of it’, says One disputant. ‘Congress has taught the Americans not to drink.’ ‘That is nothing,’ is the reply. ‘The Soviets have taught the Russians not to eat.’” —Mr. W. 11. Chamberlin in “Current History.” From “Haro!” to “Halt!”

“Herr Hitler is anxious not to be the wizard's apprentice, who released forces he could not control. He wants' to put the devil back in the box. There must be no second revolution, he declares. He preaches sagacity. He in-. I cites to wisdom. But sagacity is devoid ' of melodrama, and wisdom is modest, i His followers have been whetted; they have cried Haro! on the Jews, on the Catholics, on the Socialists; they dreamed of taking physical possession of Germany, perhaps of dividing the land, of despoiling the big concerns. Now Herr Hitler commands them to halt. From Haro! to Halt! is a perilous change of cry. We are afraid of a Dictator, but better one Dictator than tens of millions of Dictators! It may be well to pray that Herr Hitler will really prove to be a Dictator, to save j Germany from the hydra-headed IJle- I tatorship of the Nazis.—“ The Ob- I server” (London).

“Grim Time Ahead.” Dean Inge, preaching at Wootton, near Woodstock, where he is taking holiday duties, took for his text, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” “The law of sowing and reaping has been fully exemplified in the world crisis through which we are now passing,” he said. “All injustice eventually comes home to roost. I had hopes that a great outburst of intellectual aijd spiritual activity would follow the Great War. Nothing of the kind has yet happened, and the next generation will probably be a time of sowing rather than of reaping A grim time still lies ahead of us which will test Our character equally as much as the Great War did. The next thirty years will be a time for recuperation, and we must keep our eyes fixed, not, onlyon the immediate future, but on the generations that follow us.”

Adversity a Good University. “Adversity is a good university, and blessed are. they who pass through it in youth,” said Professor William Annan, of Edinburgh University, in a speech reported in the “Cost Accountant.” “It is a sad experience for middle age, and a catastrophe for the old. That is true for a business as well as for an Individual. But bad times may turn out to be good times in the end, and in every land may we all, and I hope soon, be able to repeat what Kipling said of the Boer War: “ ‘Let ug admit it fairly, As a business people should, We have had no end of a lesson, It will do us no end of good? ”

Germany and Foreign Opinion. “Dr. Schmitt warned his hearers,'’ says the “Spectator," referring to the speech of the- Reich Minister of Economic Affairs, “very sanely that to ’ compel an employer with work for • only three men to take on six was no contribution towards solution of the unemployment problem. Over and • above this the success of any unem-1 ployment plans necessarily depends on ' finance, and there is a great deal of doubt at present whether any’ internal' loan could be floated successfully. As ! Minister of Economics, Dr." Schmitt I has reason to contemplate the fall in 1 German exports (partly, no doubt, due ! to the refusal of Jews and others to i buy German) with concern. His reminder that it is not a matter of indifference to Germany what other I countries think of her has far-reach- ' Ing implications, for foreign countries base their opinion of Germany simply on her acts. The best evidence of that is the radical change of attitude on i the part of the average Englishman in ■ the past six months. Whether Dr. Schmitt’s speech falls agreeably on German ears or not, it sounds a note of realism very opportune at this juncture."

A Broadcasting Menace. “Broadcasting is so new and its applications for political purposes have been so little foreseen that we are as yet without any code of law or manners for its application. Hut we clearly need one,” writes Mr. .1. A. Spender, in the “News-Chronicle." referring to Nazi broadcasting from Germany to Austria, which is causing wide concern to people in all European countries. Secret diplomacy may be bad, but the prospect of- Governments appealing night after night to mobs in other countries is infinitely worse, and. if it is permitted, will vastly complicate international relations. The effect is entirely different from that of the occasional and measured .criticisms passed by Governments on one another in the ordinary forums of Press ami I arliament. But this again is a question which concerns not merely Austria and Germany, but us all; and if the appeal is to the League of Nations it should be for a rule to which all should conform.”

Not a Failure. “The World Economic Conference was not, in ray opinion, the failure that I some people hastily attribute to it. The Conference was undoubtedly lielp- | fill, and only time will show to what extent its favourable influences will reach. To say that it was a failure, or that it had left the international situation no better off, for from truly represents the case,” says Mr. E W. Beatty, president of the Canadian Pacific Railway. “As a result of its deliberations, and particularly because of its disagreements, it brought into : light of day expressions of national policy that tended to clear up long-held misunderstandings and gave the world | a clear vision of exactly where the varj ions nations stood in regard to world ! economic problems. This was of i value. If you have a disagreement with somebody, the first thing to do is to know the other fellow's viewpoint: (ben you can get somewhere. The Conference was apparently a very thorough exchange of viewpoints, mid i J now eitch nation knows, exactly where ' the other fellow stands."