A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Riot Act As the result of riots in Bridgetown. Barbados, in which several people were killed and injured, the Riot, Ac: was read. A riot is where three or more pet sons, assembling together of their own authority, have actually commenced to do an unlawful act, or even to do a lawful act in a violent and tumultuous manner. The riotous assembling of 12 persons or more, and their refusal to disperse on proclamation, is a much more serious offence than to be engaged in an ordinary riot as above defined. This offence is dealt with by the Riot Act, 1714, as follows: — “If any persons to the number of 12 or more, are unlawfully riotously, and tumultuously assembled together, to the disturbance of the peace, it is the duty of the Justices of the Peace, sheriff, un-der-sheriff, or mayor, bailiff, or other head oliicer of any city or town corporate, where such assembly is gathered, to go to the place where the rioters arc assembled, and make a proclamation in a form prescribed in the Act, ordering them to disperse. “If persons to the number of 12 or more unlawfully, riotously, and tumultuously remain or continue together for one hour after such proclamation is made, they are guilty of a crime.’-’ The Riot Act declares further, that if the reading of the proclamation be by force opposed, or the reader be in any manner wilfully hindered from reading it, the opposers and hinderers, and all persons to whom such proclamation ought to have been made, knowing of such hindrance and not dispersing are guilty of a crime. The same Act also contains a clause indemnifying the officers and their assistants, in case any of the mob be unfortunately killed, in the endeavour to disperse them. Bridgetown Bridgetown is situated on the west coast of the island of Barbados along the north side of Carlisle Bay, which forms its roadstead. The inner harbour is protected by a breakwater known as the Mole Head. Founded in 1628, the town took the name Indian Bridge, and later its present name, from a sort of bridge which spanned a neighbouring creek. The town suffered much from fire in 1666, 1766, and 1845: tn 1831 from a hurricane. It has an export trade in sugar, aloes, molasses, / aud mineral oil. The population is 17,000. Barbados is one of the Windward Islands, the most easterly of all the West Indies. Its length is 21 miles; its greatest breadth 144 miles; and its area 166 square miles, almost all under cultivation. The island is almost surrounded by coral reefs. Earthquakes are not uncommon, thunderstorms are frequent and severe, but hurricanes are the greatest scourge. Iraq A loan of £1,000,000, issued on the London market by the Iraq Government, is said by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to have “the full approval” of the British Government. Iraq, or Mesopotamia, “the land between the rivers” (Euphrates and Tigris) is bounded by Kurdistan, the Persian Gulf, Persia, Syria, and the Persian Desert. It was freed from Turkish rule during the Great War. Under the Treaty of Lausanne, ratified on August 6, 1923, Turkey renounced the sovereignty over Mesopotamia, and its future administration was entrusted to Great Britain by the Supreme Council of the Allies. The constitution is a constitutional Monarchy hereditary iu the family of King Faisal, with a Senate of 20 members nominated by the King, aud a Chamber of Deputies of 10S members elected by manhood suffrage. I rat] was freed from all mandatory control through admission to the League of Nations on October 3, 1932. On June 30, 1930, a treaty was signed regulating for 25 years the relations between Great Britain and Iraq on the basis of an alliance between two equal and independent States. The total area of Iraq is about 116,000 square miles, the distance from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, being approximately 500 miles. The population is about 3,000,000. The country is capable of supporting a population several times iu excess of its present number if irrigation is extended and developed. Apart from the valuable revenues to be derived from oil. the wealth of the country depends upon agriculture development,_ and two harvests can be gathered in the year, the chief crops being wheat, barley, beans, rice, dates, and Indian corn. Cotton-growing has proved a disappointment after a promising beginning. Iraq is rapidly being opened up ami communications improved. “Guns Over Gibraltar”

A writer in “The Australasian” explains the real meaning to the Empire of guns being placed in close proximity to Gibraltar by potential enemies. “Were the Mediterranean to be closed to British shipping,” he says, “we in Australia aud New Zealaud would suffer to the extent of 1300 to 1500 miles, and, at a speed of 16 knots or so, of from three to four days iu our communication with Great Britain.” “The Persian Gulf and Iraq would be pushed nearly 5000 miles—aud nearly a fortnight—farther away from the heart of the Empire. India would be in similar straits. Hong-Kong aud Singapore —the great British naval bases of the East—would be over 3000 miles and eight or nine days farther removed. Just what this would mean in times of emergency needs little imagination.” Escalator Clause

Lord Stanhope, referring to the decision of Japan not to be limited to 1 1 inch guns, said that if Japan or other nations armed beyond treaty limits the escalator clause could be invoked. The reference is to Article 21 of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Great Britain made the express reservation with Japan and the United States, in the treaty, that, should the new construction of any Power not party to the treaty become threatening to its security, it would be entitled to in crease its tonnage correspondingly af ter notification of reasons for the in crease and specifications thereof to tinother parties. Of course Japan and the United States could then make similar increases.

This formula had been suggested by the American delegate at'the Geneva Naval Conference to allay the apprehensions of Great Britain regarding American building of 8-inch cruisers It was incorporated in the London Naval Treaty to permit the British Government to agree to a maximum tonnage of auxiliary craft in the face of the large French subm-arine tonnage.