A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 134, 2 March 1936, Page 7

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

General Araki It been stated that there is a likelihood of General Araki establishing a military dictatorship in Japan. General Araki, “the keen-eyed little man with the big moustache,” has often been called “the strong man of Japan." His parents were poor and he began life as a worker in a sauce factory. When he entered the army it was as a young man entirely without influence. He is described as “short, thin, with ascetic features and eyes of a rather paler brown than is customary among the Japanese.” During the Manchurian crisis it. was said that the army found him the perfect Secretary for War. With him in the Cabinet the full strength of the empire was behind the army. He was the spokesman of the army and the agent of its wilL His creed has been ’summed up as follows: “Nature and destiny have placed the Japanese people among dangers and difficulties. They are afflicted with earthquakes, typhoons and fires, and their ancestral islands have become too small for them. But they do not surrender to the perils of nature, nor should they yield to the obstacles in their way of expansion. To live dangerously is Japan’s destiny, and in a State so situated the army’s duties and responsibilities to the nation are correspondingly great.” Chauvinism.

The London “Times”, points out that the real issue underlying the assassinations in Japan is whether the country shall bo controlled by irresponsible officers . whose narrow and arrogant chauvinism refuses to allow anything to stand in the way of Japan’s domination- of the Far East. Chauvinism means exaggerated patriotism, and a chauvinist one who advocates an extremely spirited foreign policy and showing a correspondingly narrow opinion of foreign nations. It is a French word taken from M. Chauvin, a brave soldier under Napoleon f, whose name became synonymous for all passionate followers of that Eniperor. A comedy called “Soldai Laboureur,” in which Chauvin was a character, popularised the name for & time, and then a street ballad fixed the word in the French language, much ih the same way that “Jingo” was iixed in London by the music halls.

Dunkirk. J Starting from October next a regular train ferry service will operate from Dover 'to Dunkirk. Dunkirk (French, Dunkerque) is the fifth port in France. Situated on the Straits of Dover, it has communication with the whole world, but especially with Tilbury and Hull in England, Antwerp, Germany, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and by canals with the whole of East France. The pirates or privateers of Dunkirk preyed on English commerce until in 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht provided that the port should be filled up, and it remained so until 1783. It was in the possession of England from 1658 to 1662, when Charles II sold it to Louis XIV. It was vainly besieged by the English in 1793. Dur, ing the Great War, Dunkirk became a base for British aircraft and seaplanes, mainly to deal with German air raids over England. The base was established in 1914 and gradually expanded with the needs of the war. Although it was one of their objectives, the Germans never reached Dunkirk, having been brought to a standstill lit Nieuport, 20 miles to the east. The words “ville heroique serf d’exemple a toute la nation” were added to the arms of the town in 1917. The population is about 40,000. ' Japanese Princes. The Emperor, following the assassinations in Tokio, received his brother, Prince Chichibu, and also Princes Takamatsu and Nashimoto. Prince Chichibu will be 34 years old in June. The name Atsu was given him at first. On attaining his majority in 1922, he took the name Chichibu, and by Imperial order founded a new house. He received a military education in Japan, and in 1925 he went abroad, studying at Oxford University till 1927. While in England he was decorated by the late King George V with the Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. Tn September, 1928, he married the daughter of Mr. Tsuneo Matsudaira, then Japanese Ambassador in London. The Prince had met her when her father was Japanese Ambassador at Washington. Prince Takamatsu is the third sou of the late Emperor, and was 31 years old last month. First named Tern, he was granted in 1924 the name of Takamatsu and founded a new house. His education has been a naval one. In 1930 he toured the world, partly to return the courtesies shown by King George V of England in sending a mission to Japan to present the Order of the Garter to the Emperor. Prince Nashimoto, who is 62 rears old, bolds the rank of field-mar-shal. He studied in Europe in 1903, and served through the Russo-Japanese War. From 1906 to 1909 he again studied in Europe. Christian Endeavour Union. A prominent visitor to arrive in New Zealand is Dr. Daniel A. Poling, world president of the Christian Endeavour Union. Christian endeavour societies date from 1881, and really originated in the United States of America when • Dr Francis E. Clark formed a Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour in his Congregational Church at Portland, Maine. The idea was at cnee taken up and spread to other countries, till a very large number of kindred societies, all under the presidency of Dr. Clark, were founded throughout the world. These societies from the first disregarded denominational ties, taking for their motto “For Christ and the Church.” Their aim is to “promote earnest Christian life among the members” and train them to work for the service of God and their fellow-men. The United Christian Endeavour Union of the United States was organised in 1890, being a union of all forms of young people’s societies within the church of the United Brethren of Christ. In 1927 the name was altered to the International Society of Christian Endeavour. The headquarters is in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., in a building erected in 1918 by the contributions of more

than 100.000 young people. A World’s Christian Endeavour Union was founded in 1895, the members of which remain attached to their different churches and are grouped in voluntary district federations.