THE WORLD AND SOME DICTATORS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 197, 18 May 1936, Page 8

THE WORLD AND SOME DICTATORS

New Zealander’s Conclusions YOUNG ITALY HAS LOST ITS FACULTY OF CRITICISM Dominion Special Service. Auckland, May 17. A close insight into the conditions problems and outlook of several countries which play an important part in present world situations lias been gained by Mr. F. B. Stephens, former lecturer in economics at Auckland University College, who returned after two and a half years’ research under a Rockefeller fellowship. Mr. Stephens was accompanied by his wife and children. The object of Mr. Stephens’s tour was research into local government conditions abroad and the fellowship was extended to allow a study of work being done by universities in training for the public service. His inquiries took him to Great Britain and Ireland, most European countries and North America, and he was in touch with both Governments and people in all the countries he visited. In graphic manner Mr. Stephens described the situation in the chief European countries to-day.

In Italy he gathered the impression that for Mussolini Abyssinia was just “another rabbit out of the hat.” Big public works, roads, stations and the like had begun to pall; unemployment was growing; there was a serious strike at Genoa of which very little was ever heard abroad; the Bank of Italy was in a bad state, and there was grave discontent, not with Fascism, but with the policy of centralising everything in Rome. Milan had been the economic capital of the country, but it was subordinated regarding the comparative security of the present regime. However, he had found that, whereas in Germany the important thing was Hitler, not Nazi-ism, in Italy it was Fascism that was of the greatest moment and not Mussolini, in spite of the prevailing impression. On the economic side the country was in a precarious state. Certain financial statistics had not been published since 1926, and he had experienced great difficulty in securing some information. . There was a strong feeling of repression. Outside one’s hotel a man might be seen leaning idly against a lamp-post; two hours later he was still there; a few hours later he had gone, but another man had taken his place. One was always coming on evidences of watches of this kind. French Politics. In France Mr. Stephens found the central administration in a chaotic state. Theoretically it was good, but not in practice, and nobody knew where the ultimate responsibility lay. Although as a rule they did not represent any great change in political opinion, but merely the swing of a few degrees round the Chamber from Right to Left, or vice versa, the rapid changes of Government had a disturbing effect. Local government had been reorganised in 1931, but a new Cabinet took office and the reform remained a dead letter. A tremendous enthusiasm for Hitler was the most noticeable feature in German life to-day. The average man knew little of what Nazi-ism stood for. In judging the present rule it was necessary to differentiate between the material achievements and the philosophic background to the policy. It must be admitted that the Nazi regime had some notable accomplishments Jo its credit, although many of them, including the revolutionary reorganisation of local government, had been planned by previous administrations. A tremendous bid was being made for support from the workers, and a great deal was being done in improving and providing more hygienic working conditions, arranging workers’ holidays and in similar directions'. An amusing sidelight on Nazi publicity was demonstrated in Cologne. There was a procession at which the crowds showed tremendous enthusiasm for the troops and the police, but did not raise a cheer for the Nazis. A few days later Mr. Stephens saw the procession in a newsreel, and the crowds mysteriously roared themselves hoarse as the Nazis went past. Faculty of Criticism Lost. The Germans had treated him most hospitably and placed confidential figures before him on request without demur. “The Germans can still laugh at themselves, whereas the Italian young men have lost the faculty of criticism,’ he said. “Germany is losing it, too, and if Hitler can last another five years be will be as strongly entrenched as Mussolini.” During the period spent in the United States after leaving Europe, it became evident to Mr. Stephens that in the coming election it was not a question of Roosevelt against somebody else, but of for or against Roosevelt. Mr. A. M. Landon, Governor of Kansas, appeared to be the strongest Republican candidate, but it seemed that. Mr. Roosevelt would be returned with an overwhelming majority, although the Democrats would lose much of their preponderance in both Houses. Prosperity was not as real as it appeared on the surface, and there was a very grave danger of another stock exchange boom and crash. The university college is desirous of again securing Mr. Stephens’s services, and with this object in view is at present endeavouring to have instituted a new lectureship in public administration. An announcement on the subject is expected at an early date.