A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 153, 25 March 1938, Page 9

A BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS

Murder Of Archduke Among those arrested hi. \ ienua ai t the sons of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand whose murder in 1914 prmipi fated the Great War. The murder took place on June "-S 1914. The Archduke Franz Feidm and, nephew of Emperor Joseph <" Austria-Hungary, and siiice the dea l of the Archduke Rudolf, heir to the throne, with his morganatic wife, the Duchess of Hoheuberg, were on a public visit to Serajevo. the capita: »: Bosnia.

As they were driving through the streets an attempt was made on tlieii lives; a young man threw a bomb at the royal ear, but unsuccessfully. Liiey continued their way to the Town Hall, and on their return, before leaving the city, went to visit an officer who had been wounded. The streets were illguarded; there were few police; notwithstanding the unsuccessful attempt of the morning the people were able to approach close to the royal carriage. A young man rushed forward and shot the Archduke and his wife. The only crime of the Archduke was that he was the most prominent representative of the Austrian State. .So far as his policy was known, it .was supposed that he desired a new arrangement of the Constitution by which more freedom and influence should lie given to the Southern Slavs, and the predominance of the Hungarians in the Dual Monarchy should be checked. What in truth lie represented Was Austria herself—Austria, the dynasty and tpe army, that which was. the single bond between all the races comprised within the Monarchy; and in particular he was the champion of-tlie Roman Catholic Church, the faith of three-quarters of the Austrian peoples. | In his person a blow was struck at the House of Hallsburg and the State which it had built up. The actual culprits—they were three in number—were young men, Austrian subjects, natives of Austria. There ino evidence that they were put up io the act by the Serbian Government Herr Himler And The S.S. A photograph in “The Dominion” yesterday showed Herr Himmler/the chief of Germany’s secret police, among some of his men. He was accompanied to Vienna by a large body of SS men (the Schutzstaffel). “Heinrich Himmler,” says John Gunther in “Inside Europe,” "wears pince-nez and looks like a schoolmaster. He is one of the most sinister personalities in the ilew Germany. He is two things, first Reich commander of the.SS (Black Shirts), second, supreme head of the Gestapo, or’ secret State police. He has informally told the world that in the event of an attempt on Hitler’s life, even if it is unsuccessful, there will be chaos in Germany and a great pogrom. ‘Born in Munich in 1900, Himmler, like so many of his colleagues belonged to a nationalist gang of guerilla fighters. He took part in Herr Hitler’s, Munich putsch of 1923. I D 1927 he became deputy leader of the SS, which was being formed by Herr Hitler as a counterweight to troops being formed by Captain "Roehm [who .was killed in June, 1934], In 1929 he became Reich leader of the SS, in 1933 police president of Munich, in 1934 chief of the political police. “The SS are the picked Nazi forces. Every SS man must obey especially strict standards of discipline, he must be of satisfactory height and appear-ance;-he may not marry until he and hi s bride are certified by the Eugenics Bureau, which Himmler has established, both as as irreproachably Ayran and as healthy potential parents. * “This man, holding in his person the double jobs of policeman and SS ruler, fulfils a double function. The Gestapo and SS between them are invincible The police arrest people. The SS guard them in concentration camps Himmler is all-powerful at both endBesides, he is a convenient iiistruineu: fop the civil side of the party, in that he can obey secret orders and fulfil them, while the'Government officially disclaims knowledge of what he does:” The Great Seal

A photograph in “The Dominion" yesterday showed the new Great" .Sea! of ■England for the reign of King tie -rge y i.

The first Great Seal was made in I lie reign of Edward the Confessor. Each successive Sovereign has a Great Seal of his own, and upon his death this Seal is broken, or damasked, as it is technically termed. Formerly, thi- operation was actually performed, and the Seal was broken to pieces by a blacksmith’s hammer: but for over 100 years or more these important instruments have acquired an antiquarian.interest and are eagerly taken posse-sion of by the Lord Chancellor in whose custody they happen to be at. the nine of the Sovereign's death. In stormy: times’ these pofeht symbols of authority have passed through many vicissitudes. The Seal of Charles I, being surrendered to General Fairfax during the. Civil Wars was. solemnly broken in pieces by a blacksmith at the bar of the House of Lords, (,'iomwell’s Seal was destroyed, by the.R.imp Parliament in 1659, while-a year later their own Seal fell under the nmnarchial hammer of the Restoration. After tile Hattie of Worcester Charles I is supposed to have thrown his t.ieat Seal into the Severn, lest it should tall into the hands of Cromwell’s soldiers. His unlucky .son. James, in .688 threw his Seal into the Thames al Westminster, but it was recovered :»»v a fisherman. The Great Seal was stolen from Lord Thurlow in 1784 and melted down Lord Eldon once buried it in bis garden for safety and could not ’.emember whereabouts the place was. The" whide garden had to be Hug iip to find it President Cardenas

President Cardenas has issued a manifesto justifying the expropriation ot the Mexican oilfields and blatniug the foreign companies for breaking labour contracts and maintaining rhe workers in misery. President Cardenas was inaugurated to his office on November 30. 1935 [r was said of him, at the time: “Lazaro Cardenas captures and retains liking and respect. Young. clean-cut. straightforward, he has worked hard, held important posts in the army.ami in civilian life, and at 39 is still a poor man. His reputation for scrupulous honesty ami unflagging public service is unchallenged. He won that reputation fifteen years ago when he received a 'political loan’ of 20,000 pesos from the merchants of Vera Cruz, and he paid it back, ti most uncommon Mexi can performance. Mexico is glad to have a President whose past record promises future integrity.”