A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 95, 16 January 1935, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

British Trade Statistical reports from London show that there is marked evidence of Britain’s trade recovery. To the end of October, 1934, imports of raw materials were £30,000,000 more than for the corresponding ten months of 1933 Wood and timber imports headed the list, being £9,000,000 more than in 1933 and nearly £12,000,000 above the 1932 total. Rubber imports increased by £7,000,000, compared with 1933. Exports for the ten months of 1934 exceeded the corresponding period for 1933 by £23,000,000, mainly in manufactured goods, which rose by more than £19,000,000. Improved activity is shown in the cotton, woollen and worsted trades, and in tailoring, boot, and shoe and hosiery factories. Unemployment has also decreased. A gratifying improvement has occurred in the iron .and steel industries, and official statements refer to the success with which Britain is competing against other nations. The motor industry is one of Sheffield’s most important customers at present, and its requirements are increasing. Shipyards on the Clyde and Tyne are busier now than tuey have been for some time past. On August 31, 1934, there were 2,359,150 motor vehicles in use in the United Kingdom, while for ten months of last year exports of motor vehicles totalled, nearly £10,000,000. The motor industry is the fourth largest in Britain. Alfonso and His Wife. Ex-King Alfonso’s secretary has denied the rumour that Alfonso and his wife, the ex-Queen Ena, are to separate. Alfonso was born on May 17,1586, some months after the death of his father, Alfonso XII. He was proclaimed King of Spain on the day of his birth, his mother, Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria, being appointed regent. The regency came to an end in 1902, when the young King was declared of age. It was Alfonso’s wish to marry Princess Patricia, the younger daughter of the Duke of Connaught, King Edward’s brother. The Princess, however, was not keen on it. King Alfonso had long cherished the ambition of allying himself in marriage with a Princess of the English royal house, and his choice fell on Princess Victoria' Eugenie—more popularly known as Princess Ena—the daughter of King Edward’s youngest sister, Princess Beatrice, widow of Prince Henry of Battenburg. King Edward favoured the suit, though a necessary condition of the King of Spain’s marriage was that his bride should be of ihs own (Roman Catholic) faith. The proposed change of the Princess’s faith somewhat offended English Protestant sentiment, and there was much public criticism in the correspondence columns of the Press. The Church Association and the Protestant Alliance both made appeals to the King to refuse his consent, while the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London brought to the King’s notice in January, 1906, the signs of public disapproval. The King took the view that, as Princess Ena was not an English Princess, being a Battenburg, he had no right to interfere. The ceremony of Princess Ena’s reception into the Roman Catholic Church was carried out quietly in Paris at King Edward’s suggestion. He disapproved of a proposal that it should be performed in England. Princess Ena also signed a paper formally renouncing her succession to the English throne. Cairo to Jerusalem. The Egyptian Government is to build a motor road from Cairo to Jerusalem, following the track Moses and the Israelites followed, and reducing the journey between the two places from 40 years to 40 hours. Archaeologists and historians tell us that we know neither by what route the Israelites went, the time when the journey happened, nor how long it took. In Amos v. 25, it is stated the people- were in the wilderness 40 years, but this round number is, however, considered doubtful. The most ancient source of the Pentateuch (the first five bfloks of the Old Testament) probably knows nothing of the 40 years’ wandering. The accuracy ,of the mention of places which were the stations of the wandering in the desert, cannot, archaeologists and historians say, be brought forward as historical proof of the time in the desert. These places have all, within historical times, been desert stations. That Israel repaired to them is supported solely by the tradition of later times, which, on the hypothesis that the Israelites come from the Sinatic peninsula, and on the basis of its knowledge of the roads through the desert, constructed a picture of the way which the Israelites might have taken. It is considered, also, that the veneration by neighbouring peoples of some of the places in the doubtful territory influenced the tradition. This would account for- the choice of Kadesh-Bar-nea as a chief station, of Mount Horeb as the place of Aaron’s death, and of the mountains in the north of Moab, as the abode of Moses in his last days. Youth Will Be Served.

At the national conference of the Youth Group of the League of Nations Union at Bristol, Canon H. R. L. Sheppard and Mr. A. A. Milne were rejected as vice-presidents on the ground of age. Canon Sheppard, who is the author, among other books, of “The Impatience of a Parson,” won for himself a national reputation through his broadcast sermons while vicar of St. Martin-iii-the-Fields. He served as a chaplain in the war, and was appointed Dean of Canterbury, May, 1929, resigning in February, 1931, 'because of ill-health. He was appointed a Canon of St. Paul’s, September, 1934. Mr. A. A. Milne is 53 years old, 12 years younger than General Smuts, who was elected a vice-president. He is the author of books and plays and poems of delightful humour, and was for nine years on the staff of London “Punch.’’ His latest work is a brilliant book against war, “Peace With Honour.” General Smuts is the most famous of those elected. He was a Boer leader against the English in the Boer War, he has been Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, and the Covenant of the League of Nations was practically drawn up bv him and adopted by President Wilson. Mr. 11. W. ("Bunny”) Austin is the English Davis Cup tennis player. Mr. Robert H. Bernays is the National Liberal member for North Bristol, and a journalist. Beverley Nicholls has earned a reputation for being a brilliant if cynical writer. He was once secretary to Madame Melba, and his novel “Evensong” is said to represent part of her life. Miss Megan Lloyd George is the younger daughter of Mr. David Lloyd George. She has inherited her father’s ability as a speaker, and represents Anglesey in Parliament. Miss Dorothy Round is the present allEngland and Australian tennis champion. Mr. Anthony Eden is Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs.