A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 126, 22 February 1938, Page 6

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Mr. Anthony Eden

Mr. Anthony Eden, who has resigned from the office of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is 40 years of age. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. His first step on the ladder to political fame came when he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Bir Austen Chamberlain. From there he became Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Privy Seal, Minister without portfolio for League of Nations, and then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

During tha Great War Mr. Eden attained the rank of captain. He had two brothers killed in the war. He had a very distinguished career at Oxford University. Not only is he a perfect French linguist and scholar, but he has also mastered Persian. Sir Thomas Wilford, who knows him well, has said that Mr. Eden "has the faculty of concrete expression. He is a maker of epigrams—not too frequently, but"iit the appropriate moment. He has a pleasing voice and is always immaculately dressed. He laughs with his eyes, and lias a little fat chuckle which is sometimes very effective at the end of a tilt. One would consider him a delicate man physically, but 1 believe he is never Hl. He is very thin and stoops rather, as many students have the habit of doing. He never shows the slightest sign of auger or petulance. Although Mr. Eden could not be considered pig-headed, when he has made up his mind he is full of the strength of his conviction. Unlike many of the Ministers, he does not play golf, but hunting and horses are a joy to him. [He also plays tennis.j He is a connoisseur of art.” It was felt that Mr. Eden's assumption of the Foreign Office would give a stronger line to British foreign policy, and less drift. He was from the first a whole-hearted supporter of the League Nations, but a League that must be powerful enough to fulfill its obligations. He saw in the Abyssinian War a test ( case. His Policy

Writing to his constituents, he said; "The issues of the dispute are such as must profoundly interest every one of us. It is not purely a question of colonial adventure of no real importance, as has been urged in some quarters. It is not a question of the imperial demand of one Power or another Power in the territory of Abyssinia or elsewhere. It is not even just a question of peace or war in an outlying part of the world. The real issue is whether the League of Nations can prove itself an effective instrument in this dispute, and whether its members are prepared to respect and uphold the Covenant. . . - The present dispute is a

test case.” . , ~ That has been his attitude all through his occupancy of the Foreign Office It has been the cause of his unpopularity with Italy. And as it is now a cardinal policy of Mr. Neville Chamberlain to try and regain the friendship of Italy—which must involve concessions, notably the recognition of Italy’s conquest of Abyssinia, Mr. Eden is placed in a delicate posi--1 °ji’ r . Eden has turned his attention more toward trying to find an honourable way of conciliating Germany, as he sees that there, and not Italy, lies the real storm centre of Europe and the issues of peace or war. He would like to see Germany brought back again to the League of Nations, and he has striven to do nothing that would prevent that desired consummation. Hankow

It is reported that China plans a last big battle at Hankow. If it does not prove Japan’s Waterloo, the Chinese will withdraw to the mountains and maintain guerilla warfare throughout the country. The Chinese blew up a three-mile long bridge on the PeipingHankow railway across the Yellow Bivet. , „ . Hankow is a treaty port of China, situated in the Hupeh province, it is situated on the left bank of the Yangtse, 600 miles from the mouth, at the junction of the Han River. It was opened to foreign trade in 1802. The city is connected by railway with Peiping, 755 miles distant, and is accessible to ocean-going steamers during summer. With Hanyang, across the Han River, and Wuchang on the south bank of the Yangtse, it forms the foremost trading centre in Central China, onlysurpassed in importance in the whole of China by Shanghai. In Hankow there are British, Russian, French and Japanese settlements. The Tayeh iron Japanese-controlled deposits near Hankow are among the richest in the world.

The city was walled round in 1863. The railway between Hankow and Peiping was completed in 1905, and a line to Canton has been surveyed, and in 1926 the first 286 miles were completed. There is a good daily steamship service between Hankow and Shanghai. The town has been submerged (1866, 1869 aud 1870), but structures to prevent flooding by the river have been built along the river frontage' of the .British settlement. There are telephones and telegraphs in Hankow, and it is lighted by electricity. In recent years Hankow has been the scene of disturbance and crops have been continually ruined by fighting soldiers. Peipking-Hankow Railway Construction on the Peiping-Hankow railway was begun in 189 S, the money ■being raised by means of loans from France and Belgium. It was opened for traffic in December, 1905. The railway, which is 755 miles long, has junctions with other systems: at Fengtai with Peiping-Mukden and PeipingKalgan railways; at Shihchiaehuang witli Shansi railway; at Chengchow with Pienlo railway; at Sinsianghsieu, with the Taokow-Chingbua railway; at Sinyangctiow with a projected railway to Fengyang. There are also several small branch lines.

There are 875 iron bridges, including the Yellow River bridge of 103 spans of 33 yards each span, which lias now been destroyed. There are 1285 stone bridges and culverts. There are five wooden bridges, giving a grand total of 2193 bridges and culverts of a total length of about 21 to 22 miles. There are two tunnels, each about 400 yards long. To go from Peiping to Hankow takes 35 hours.

Security for loans for the railway are taxes on tobacco, wine and salt of Ipangsu, Chekiang, Chihli and Hupeh. The railway has been seriously disorganised during the civil wars of the past few years, and lias seldom been operated as a single system, various militarists retaining control of different sections.