A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 113, 6 February 1936, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

The British Navy

Vice-Admiral J. E. T, Harper has issued a warning about the reduction in the strength of tho British Navy and the dangers attendant thereon. The First Lord of the Admiralty, introducing the Navy Estimates for 1935-36 on March 14 last, said Great Britain between 1914 and the end of December, 1934, reduced the number of her capital ships from 69 to 15, of her cruisers from 108 to 50,’0f her destroyers and torpedo boats from 322 to 118 and of her submarines from 74 to 48. The tonnage of her warships since 1914 shows a decrease of 48 per cent, while that of the United States shows an increase of 20 per epnt, and that of Japan 35 per cent. Again, while the British Navy estimates "between 1929 and 1935 increased by only £4,000,000, or 7J per cent., those of the United .States rose from £72,000,000 to £118,000,000 (the highest figure recorded for any Power in time of peace), an increase of 62 per cent; of Japan, from £26,100,000 to £53,000,000, an increase of 102 per cent.; of France from 2,485,000,000 francs to -3,298,000,000 francs, an increase of 32 per cent.;, of Italy from 1,232,000,000 lire to 1,394,000,000 lire, an increase of six per cent.; and those of Germany from 180,175,000 marks to about 350,000,000 marks, or nearly 100 per cent. The. British Navy Estimates for 1935-36 for the third year in succession called for an augmentation in expenditure, rising from £56,550,000 voted for 1934-35 to £60,050,000. Anthropology.

Dr. Peter Buck has been appointed Professor of Anthropology at Yale University. Anthropology comes from two Greek words meaning “the science of man.” It concerns the study of man in all his leading aspects, physical, mental and historical, the investigation of the la T -s of his origin and progress, and the ascertaning of his place in nature, and his relation to the inferior forms of life.

Yale University. Yale University, situated at Hartford, Connecticut, owes its name to Elihu Yale, who was an early benefactor. It was founded at Saybrook by Puritans in 1701, as a collegiate school, and theology was an important subject of study, while strict religious tests were imposed both upon teachers and scholars. After their abolition the direction of the college remained largely In the hands of the clergy. In 1717 it was removed to Hartford, and soon took the name of Yale, although it was not officially declared a university until 1887. It is organised in four departments, arts, theology, medicine and law, and possesses a large number of buildings. Since 1892 Yale University has been open to .women. Picketing, 4 The shopmen on strike at Smithfield are carrying out picketing. The terni picketing is derived from the military word picket, and is used in industrialism to describe the practice, common during. strikes, of placing men near .the affected works to restrain the hands from working, or to obtain information bearing on the dispute. Peaceful picketing, even if for the purpose of persuading any person to work or to abstain from working, is legal But it is illegal for pickets to use compulsion. Wolds. It is reported that as far south as North Lincolnshire there have been heavy falls of snow, and farmers fear for sheep in drifts, on the wolds. Wold is a term used in England for open, hilly country. The Yorkshire wolds fora a chalk ridge In the East Riding, extending from Ferriby, on the Humber, in a curve of 35 miles to Flamborough Head. The highest point reaches 800 feet. The Lincolnshire wolds fora a chalk ridge, extending for 45 miles south-east from Barton-iipon-Humber to Spilsby. Of an average elevation of about 850 feet, it rises near Claxby to 550 feet. There are also wolds on the borders of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. A Danubian Pact. Because of sanctions, Italy declares she will take no further part in fostering the plan for v a Danubian Pact, originally sponsored by her at Stress. The main features of such a pact were: (1) A guarantee of Austrian independence; (2) a mutual pledge of nonaggression; (3) agreement for consultation instead of mutual assistance in case of threat to the territorial or political status quo. It was reported that the pact would ,bo desirable, provided that agreement on the several points was reached by France, Italy, Poland, and all Central and Eastern European States, and that revision (of the peace treaties) was not raised. Hungary, however, is far from satisfied with her present frontiers, and . still hankers, also, after a restoration of the monarchy. This the Little Entente opposes, as also the return of the Hapsburgs to Austria. The Little Entente comprises Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and. Yugoslavia. Japan in the Pacific.

The Japanese mandated territories of the Pacific consist of some 1400 islands and reefs scattered over a vast expanse of sea, between the Equator and Japan. The most northerly of these islands lies 1200 miles due south of Yokohama, the most westerly is 590 miles from Davao in the Philippines and 660 miles from Menado in the Celebes, while well away to the east at a distance of 2000 miles lies Hawaii. To the south there is nothing of real importance until Australia is reached at a distance of 1800 miles. The total area of these islands is about 1500 square miles, the population 78,500, of whom 28,300 are Japanese. Some comment has been made in the United States on the Japanese Government’s decision to construct aerodromes in the Marianne. Caroline and Marshall Islands. The Japanese argue that these aerodromes are not for naval or- military purposes, but purely for commercial purposes. The harbour of Saipan, which the Japanese are building, is expected to afford shelter to vessels of 3000 tons. Palau, where there is another harbour, consists of 109 small islands. An enormous reef girdles the whole ’archipelago, through which there is only one serviceable passage difficult to negotiate except in davlight when the weather is clear. Once inside the reef there is ample anchorage, though it is impossible for ships of any size to approach the wharf.