A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 199, 20 May 1936, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Withdrawal From The League Guatemala has given notice of her intention to withdraw from the League of Nations. Two years’ notice must be given before a State can cease to be a member. When the conditions of membership of the League were being discussed, President Wilson proposed that at the end of ten years States could withdraw, if they so desired, on giving one year’s notice. lie thought that if tlie League were successful it would be morally impossible for a State to withdraw. M. Laruaude (France) objected to the placing of a 10 years’ time limit. To this President Wilson replied that sovereign (States could not permanently be bound. Lord Robert Cecil (now Viscount Ceeil) held that a treaty could not be considered permanent. He doubted, however, whether 10 years sufficed. The effects of the war would only be beginning co pass off in 10 years. He suggested 15 o r 20 years, but if a period less than 20 years was fixed, then two yea is’ notice ought to be given. M. Orlando (Italy) considered the time limit should be abandoned, but that two years’ notice should be given. If States had Ute power of withdrawal they would probably not want to use it, be said. President Wilson agreed to abandon the time limit and substitute tsvo years’ notice. He said that he did not entertain the smallest fear that any State would take advantage of the proposed clause. Any State which did so would become an outlaw. He added that no State would have the moral right to withdraw, and he only proposed to admit a legal right. M. Reis (Portugal) believed that what President Wilson had called “the fetish of sovereignty” was the chief obstacle to the creation of an effective League of Nations. The League would never be a reality till it became “the United States of the World.” Yperite.

One of the things, it is said, that determined the Emperor to leave Abyssinia was the fear, if he remained, that many of his warriors would be tortured by “a burning rain” of yperite. Yperite is another name for mustard gas. The French named it yperite because it was first used at Ypres onJuly 12, 1917. It is a light yellow, oily liquid. On the explosion of a shell the mustard gas i' distributed as a spray of fine drops. The “gas” evaporates slowly and may remain for a number of days and constantly infect the surrounding atmosphere. Its smell, which is somewhat akin to that of garlic, is not sufficiently pronounced to be readily distinguished on a battlefield. It particularly attacks those portions of the skin which tend to be moist, as under the armpits, raising most painful blisters, whilst its irritating effect on the eyes is very marked. Splashes of liquid on the clothing may cause blisters all over the body which take weeks to heel. The gas has a most irritant effect on the lungs if inhaled, and pneumonia frequently supervenes, occasionally with fatal results. Seaford.

Seaford, where a cargo boat crashed, into the promenade, is a watering.place of Sussex. It stands on the south coast, 58 miles from London. Beautifully situated on a bay sheltered by cliffs, it has excellent bathing facilities. At one time Seaford was an important seaport, as the Ouse formerly entered the sea there. The Ouse now enters the sea at Newhaven, three miles away. Seaford was one of the Cinque ports. In 1524 and 1860 inroads of the sea did much damage. The population is about 7000. • Beachy Head. Beachy Head, where two ships collided in a fog, is a promontory of the coast of Sussex. It is a steep chalk cliff 533 feet high, situated about three miles south-west of Eastbourne, at the eastern extremity of the South Downs. It has a lighthouse just off the base, and is the highest headland on the south coast of Eugland. Bolivia. According to reports, the Bolivian Government has fallen after a bloodless coup d’etat by a junta composed of army officers and civilian Socialists. Bolivia, nearly five times as large as New Zealand, and with a population of nearly 3,000,000, is the only country in South America without a seaport. It is bounded by Peru, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. Framing, grazing and mining are the chief occupations of the people, 75 per cent, of whom are Indians or of mixed blood. Tlie chief exports are tin, copper, antimony, bismuth, silver, lead, tungsten, rubber and cocoa. When the world depression set in, Bolivia entered into an agreement to limit the production of tin. La Paz, the capital, described as a city of great charm, lies in the heart of a gigantic canyon about three miles wide, 10 miles long and 1500 feet deep, at an altitude of 12,700 feet. In Bolivia also is Lake Titicaca, 120 miles long and 12,545 feet above sea-level. Steamers ply on it. By the constitution ef 18S0 the President of Bolivia is elected for four years by direct popular vote. All men over 21 who can read and write have the vote, hut illiteracy is very high. Congress is composed of a Senate of 16 members elected for six years and a House of Deputies of 70 members elected for four years. Wrangel Island. The director of the polar station at Wrangel Island is being tried in Moscow for allegedly ill-treating the scientific staff and the local population. Wrangel Island is situated in the Arctic Ocean, off the north-east coast of Siberia, being separated from the mainland by Long Sound. It was discovered by an Englishman named Sir Henry Kellett in 1849, rediscovered by an American, De Long, in 1567, and named by him after a Russian explorer, Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel. It consists mainly of bare rocks which rise to a height of 2000 feet. Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire, where the bulb and flower-growing industry is giving employment to more than 2000 workers, is tlie second largest county in England. For 110 miles it lies along the east coast, separated from Yorkshire by the Humber and from Norfolk by the Wash. Its area is 26G5 square miles. Tlie county town is Lincoln, but the largest is Grimsby. The surface is mostly flat and in places along the coast marshy, some areas being protected from the sea by embankments. It is almost entirely an agricultural area, the soil being very fertile. It is noted for its breeds of cattle, sheep and horses, while large quantities of wheat and barley are grown. There Is also a good deal of fishing round the coast.