A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 152, 24 March 1938, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Mr. A. T. Lennox-Boyd

Mr. A. T. Lennox-Boyd, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, caused consternation in Czechoslovakia for an indiscreet speech to his constituents and made an apology in tire House of Commons. Mr. Alan Tindal Lennox-Boyd, who was born in November. 1904. lias lieen Conservative member of the House of Commons for Mid-Bedford since 11)32. He was educated at Sherborne School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where lie graduated M.A. He was Beit prizeman, and president of the Oxford Union in 1926. In 1929 he contested the Gower Division of Glamorgan. Switzerland

Switzerland has made a solemn proclamation of its neutrality. Switzerland is a Federal State of Europe. One of the few entirely inland countries of Europe, it lies between France and Austria and between Italy and Germany, being a buffer State between the four countries.

t In so far as the spoken language is a test of rationality. Switzerland is mainly and historically German, for 19 cantons (or districts) arc Germanspeaking. five French-speaking, and one Italian-speaking. Because of the alps. Switzerland’s greatest line of defence, the climate varies greatly with the altitude and exposure. The snow line varies between 8500 feet and 9500 fee r Olives thrive in the warmest valleys. Cultivation is rarely attempted higher than 2500 feet. Twenty-two per cent, of the country is forest: 25 per cent pasture, and 25 per cent, arable. There are 300.000 peasant proprietors representing about half the population. Rye. wheat, oats, and potatoes are the principal crops, and considerable attention is paid to fruit-growing. Home-grown food supplies are inadequate to the needs of the population, and wheat, potatoes, and vegetables are imported in large quantities. The pastoral industry is of great importance, and condensed milk and cheese are valuable exports. The country has few minerals, but there are large manufactures despite this. The Swiss constitution is definitely democratic, with a large measure of autonomy for the cantons. In international affairs it is the aim of Switzerland to be neutral. The League of Nations has its headquarters at Geneva in Switzerland, and the Bank of International Settlements is situated at Basle. Bayonne

Bayonne, where a journalist has been arrested for espionage, is a city and seaport of France. ■ A fortified military centre, it stands at the junction of the Nive and Adour, three and a half miles from the Bay of Biscay and 124 miles by railway south-west of Bordeaux. on the main line from Paris to Madrid.

The city consists of three parts—the rivers forming the divisions between them. Great Bayonne is the most important ; the others are Little Bayonne and St. Esprit. A large trade in the produce of Southern France passes through the port. Vessels drawing up to 25 feet can enter the harbour, but access is rendered difficult by the bar. Shipbuilding. distilling, and’ the manufacture of leather, sugar, and linen are among the industries of the city. Bayonne was a Roman colony, its early name lieing Lapurduin. As part of Aquitaine it was a possession of the English kings, and owes its rights as a town to King John. During his reign it was temporarily regained by France, but not finally recovered until 1451. It was fortified during the frequent wars between France and Spain, and was besieged and taken by the British in 1814. •

The name means bay or harbour city. The city guards two roads into Spain by the coast and by the pass of Roncevaux (Roncesvalles). It is 18 miles north-east of the Spanish frontier at Fuenterrabia. The population is about 32,000. Sudeten Germans

There have been numerous meeting? in Czechoslovakia of Sudeten Germans at which outspoken speeches were mad" eulogising Germany. In Czechoslovakia there are 3,500.01X1 Germans organised in a powerful entity inside the country, and fronting on Germany. These are the Sudeten Germans, named from the district they mainly occupy. The' suppression of the Nazi Party tn Czechoslovakia was followed in 1931 by the formation of the Sudeten German Homeland Front, run as closely as the law allowed on Nazi lines with Nazi ideals, and with the suppressed Nazi Party as its backbone. The rules state:.

“Admission to the party can be granted only after official investigation and confirmation of the candidate’s right to consider himself of German stock. German stock means that German blood and that German type which are the foundations of the German national community.”

The party, led by Konrad Henlein, co-opprates directly with Berlin. A propaganda school for Sudeten Germans lias been established in Dresden, whence Nazi propaganda in Czechoslovakia is directed by Herr Krebs, who was formerly a deputy in the Prague, Parliament, and was “elected” to the German Reichstag on March 29. 1936.

The Propaganda Aliuistry has also planned the erection in the Erzgebirge and in the Bavarian Forest (that is. right on the Czechoslovakian frontier) of two new relay stations connected with the main broadcasting stations in Munich and Leipzig. It is thus possible for the daily broadcasts from Germany to be picked up in Czechoslovakia by the least powerful of wireless sets. Magnanimity

Speaking on the necessity of making efforts for European appeasement. Mr. Neville Chamberlain said in the House of Commons: “It is for a strong countr.v to do what a weak country cannot' afford to do. namely, show magnanimity.” Last November he gave expression to similar views on foreign policy, lie said: "it is time than another effort was made to see if it is possible to remove these fears and .suspicions by a closer examination of their origin and substance.

“Such an effort is not a sign of weakness. This countr.v is strong. She is getting s.ronger every day. She has behind her vast, almost illimitable resources, and our very strength makes it easier for us to appeal to others to Join us in applying our common sense, our common humanity to the solution of those problems which carry with them such tremendous possibility for the happiness or for the misery of the human race. I have faith in human nature: because I have that faith 1 believe that there will be a ready res pouse to such an appeal."