A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 195, 15 May 1936, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Occupation of Territory Mr. Anthony Eden, in the House of Commons, said that there should be accorded to the Italian military authorities in Abyssinia that recognition to which an army in military occupation of enemy territory is entitled under the principles of international law. Territory is considered to be occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation applies only to the territory where such authority is established and in a position to assert itself. In other words, occupation, like blockade, to be valid must 'be effective. The old doctrine that it is equivalent to an assumption of complete sovereignty has given place to the doctrine that any rights possessed by an invader, are only a part of his right to do what is necessary to carry the war to a successful conclusion. Under the old practice it was considered permissible to exact from the inhabitants an oath of allegiance, and to press them into the service of the invading army. But as the rights of occupation depend merely on the military exigencies of the invader, they are only provisional; the national character of the locality is not changed, and consequently the inhabitants do not owe the invader even temporary allegiance. Hence, to , extract an oath of allegiance from Uiem or to compel them to perform military duties of any kind is unlawful. Phoenix Islands. Phoenix Islands where scientists are arranging to go next year to observe a total eclipse of the sun, comprise about a dozen small islands with a total land area of about 19 square miles. They lie due north of Samoa and about 300 miles south of the equator. They belong to Great Britain, but are of little economic value. They are, however, on the direct route between Fiji and Hawaii. It was on the main island of the group that the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith looked for an emergency landing place (had it been necessary) on his famous flight across the Pacific in 1928. The islands are all low-lying, made of coral, and grouped in the shape of a large’ circle. It is probable that some of the islands will become valuable as aerodromes for the trans-Pacific air service which is being planned by American interests. Tangku Truce. Chinese ofiicials claim that Japanese militarists, on the pretext of a breach of the Tangku Truce, are interfering with Chinese endeavours to prevent smuggling. The Tangku Truce brought to an end the ‘’unofficial” war between Japan and China, following the setting up by Japan of the "buffer” State of Manchukuo, which she took from China. It was signed on May 30, 1933, between the Japanese and a newly-formed Peiping Political Council set up with administrative authority over an undefined area in North China and selected for its moderate or pro-Japanese views. The negotiations were conducted at Tangku, near Tientsin. The Chinese had to withdraw their forces south of a defined line and the Japanese were to go back to the Great Wall. The resulting demilitarised zone from the Great Wall to a line roughly from Tientsin to Peiping was to be administered by Chinese friendly to Japan, and if the plan succeeded there was to be the splitting off of a new Chinese State with pro-Japanese sympathies. Bass Strait.

Aresing out of the wreck of an aeroplane in Bass Strait, a correspondent, "Flinders Island,” gives the following particulars concerning the discovery of the Strait: "On March 25, 1796,” he says, "Matthew Flinders, George Bass and a boj- made their first attempt to \explore th# coast south of Port Jackson in a little boat only eight feet in length, the famous Tom Thumb. On December 3, 1797, Bass sailed southward from Port Jackson in a whaling boat manned by six men and provisioned for six weeks. In this boat he explored the coast to Ram’s Head, a little beyond Cape Howe, and then returned. Meanwhile Captain Flinders, on board the schooner Francis, was proceeding to the wreck of the Sydney Cove at Preservation Island. After passing and renaming Green Cape, Flinders followed Bass’s route and sighted Wilson’s Promontory, the Kent’s Group, the Babel Isles and Cape Baren Islands. On his return to Port Jackson h e found that Bass had arrived a fortnight previously. On October 7, 1798, Captain Flinders and George Bass set out to explore the Tasmanian coast, when they made many Important discoveries. By doubling Cape Grim, Flinders proved beyond doubt the existence of a strait between the Australian continent and what was known as Van Diemen’s Land. Governor Hunter gave to this passage between the continent and Tasmania the name Bass Strait. In the annals of Australian discovery Matthew Flinders will ever rank second only to the famous Captain Cook. Among many things Australians owe to him is the name of their continent.” Russia and Japan.

General Terauehi has admitted that the Japanese army had rejected a nonagression pact with Russia. Russia has made several overtures, dating from 1931, for a non-aggression pact with Japan. Only such a treaty would convince the Russian Government that the Japanese militarists had postpostponed their ideas of invading Eastern Siberia. The Japanese have quite openly regarded the proposal of a nonagression pact as a bargaining point, and insist on gaining from Russia in exchange such concessions as permanent, fishing rights in Far Eastern waters, delimitation of the boundaries between Siberia and Manchukuo, and Russia’s formal recognition of Manchukuo. Russia has been successful in making non-aggression pacts with some of her neighbouring States in Europe to last until 1945. “Ducks and Drakes.”

The Abyssinian Minister iii London, Dr. Azaj Martin, addressing the Nile Society, said that unless measures were adopted to resist Italy’s aggression it would soon become the fashion for the strong to play ducks and drakes with the weak. “Ducks and drakes” is, literally, the ricochetting or rebounding of a stone thrown from the hand to skim along the surface of a pond or river. To play ducks and drakes with one’s money is to throw it away carelessly, or just on amusement, or for the sake of watching it go and making a splash. Samuel Butler, in his “Hudibras,” has the linos: What figured slates are best to make On watery surface duck and drake.