A DANGER TO PEACE.

Evening Star, Issue 18650, 3 June 1924, Page 4

A DANGER TO PEACE.

Tun blowing up of Rumanian ammunition stores may be a misfortune yet ior more countries than Rumania,. If the disaster was accidental it would fco bad enough—how bad can be conjectured from Liu- concern of Bucharest's authorities hr 4 to conceal the occurrence from the outer world, and then, it may be suspected, to minimise it. Their belated report was that as the store destroyed was only one of many ros.se.ssed by the army no great d’sasler bad Leon suffered. The Louden ‘ Sunday Express,’ however, traversing another official rqxwt, declares 1 hat a rtaggering blow has been dealt to Rumania’s military power. 11 is stated that more than ten thousand people wore killed or wounded in nn area of half a square mile, and an unofficial estimate, of the flaniaga done places it at £1.000.000 wa-rtii. k'conling to a Vienna message, the eomliikin of the Rumanian army is jeopardis'd, as it is impossible to replace the loss quickly. One of the later official messages admits the damage to be ** extremely heavy.” But if the train for this explosion was laid from Moscow, as .Rumanians quite plainly suspect, the first destruction might lo nothing to destruction and danger to come. There has been bad blood between Russia and Rumania since, the Great ’War ended. The Rumanians made a mistake in fighting in that conflict, but they showed the same “ slimness not to say unscrupnlousness—in profiting Rom the results of it as they did after the First Balkan War. The Peace of Bucharest, which they we.ro forced to sign on May 7, 1918, left them apparently help-' less, at the complete mercy of the Central Powers. But the dissensions of the Russians, who had made peace some weeks earlier at Brcst-Litovsk, were working all unintentionally for their advantage. The war-time alliance between the two States was not yet. dissolved before Rumanian forces in Bessarabia had kicked the disorganised Russians out of that province, which they claimed as a part ol Rumania. There was something lo bo said for that claim on ethnological grounds, only a minority of the population apparently being of Russian race; something also on historical grounds; and still more on the principle of “self-determination,” which was the Russians’ own doctrine. But the method of asserting it was indefensible. First it was declared, in answer to the protests of the Allies, that the actions of Rumanian troops in Bessarabia bad no political purpose. Then an agreement was signed by which Russian sovereignty over the border province was acknowledged. Then that agreement was repudiated, and a Rumanian Foreign Minister declared that, whatever might bo the future of his country, it never would give up Bessarabia. In October, 1920, the Balkan State’s acquisition of this debateable laud was officially recognised by Groat Britain, It has not yet been recognised by the .Soviet, or by the United States, Franco, Italy, and Japan. Considering that, by the final peace treaties, Rumania secured largo accessions of territory also from Austria-Hungary, she had cause to think that she carnc very well out of the war in which she shaped so badly as a belligerent. But the Bolshevists have never forgiven the way in which Bessarabia was snatched from them. Their resentment would have been kept alive, if anything had been needed to perpetuate it, by the zeal which its non-Russian inhabitants arc said since to have shown in making it a constant thorn in their aide and a rallying place and pleasant refuge for anti-Soviet forces. A new war might bo fatal to Rumania’s fortunes. Alliances, by which the Central and Southern States of Europe are now bound together, may avert that danger. They could serve only to extend it if war began. Bolshevists may have been wholly innocent of this latest explosion. Munition dumps have blown up in half the countries of Europe since the Great War j ended, leaving far too much ammunition around for the safety of adjacent popula-1 lions. But if the Soviet Government j were meditating a war upon Rumania, a j match which should blow up a big pro-1 portion of her ammunition supplies and j other military equipment in one immense explosion, or succession of explosions, would be Hi-’ best of all ways of beginning it. M. ii' e-ky was expatiating a few weeks ago on iho now efficiency of his Bed army its u weapon, equipped with latest, resources, including poison gas (though a Socialist writer who writes to as to-day must be surprised by that announcement), “pointed only at Russia’s violators and oppressors.” And in that category he would naturally include Eu- . mania, i

His Majesty George the Fifth, the only surviving son of King Edward the Seventh and Queen Alexandra, was born at Marlborough House on June 3. 1565. and to-day all parts of the Empire celebrated his fifty-ninth birthday. In Dunedin the day was observed as a whole holiday, with the accompaniment, of llagIshowirig. The principal' celebrations for the massed public were the Winter Show in town and the races at Winga-tui.

In referring to the forthcoming New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition to bn held in Dunedin the annual report_of the local Manufacturers’ Association stated :—“ Four members of the executive—Messrs Speight. Hayward. Somerville, and Sincock were elected to the directorate of Ihe company, and the congratulations of the association are extended to them, not only on account, or their election, but also on their willingness to undertake so great a responsibility in the interests of the province. The project has the whole-hearted support of the association, and no opportunity' vill be lost of demonstrating this in a practical way. In response to a request y'T an expression of opinion the executive strondv advised the directors to provide a < court of New Zealand Industries for the display so'ely of dominion manufactures and products; and it is satisfactory to note that, a building covering U acres has been set aside tentatively for this purpose. It is sincerely to be hoped that, this proposal will meet with the fu. approval ami support of the Industrial rorpnratinn of Mow Zealand at its annual conference in June next.

At the annual meeting of the Mannfaet.ui'prs* Association Inst, • Supi'dit (eh,airman) asked the Prime Minister (Right. Hon. W. F, Massey) if ho could take steps to have as much as possible of the New Zealand (Vari at W«niblev transferied to the 1 .'ddbllioii to be lu-ld ill Dunedin next year. It would be a giv.il education tor all visitors. Mr Massey replied (bat tlx' Government had rdreadv moved in that direction, and anything that omld bo done to further the proposal would be done.

The critieism that has been published during i.ho past Hires days of Urn Exhibition (Erectors’ recent; acceptance of lenders for Hie main Exhibition buildings war; discvissed by the direviois in comfniM.ea at a, meeting held la,to yeri-erday afternoon. Tim following resolution was Riibsequeutlv unanimously adopted:—"Rurite infonva'.km of shuTehouieis toe directors wish to inform (horn that it vas oniv after mature consideration that they unanimously decided 10 accept tli« tender ol M ousts Fletcher and J^ovo.”

An historic Hate was hmi.q at, llic Ramilton jubilee luncheon celebrations in Lire Town Jla Li at Hamilton on Tuesday of last week. It was the original flag of the Fourth Company of the -Fourth Regiment, and is identified with tin? earliest sc moment, of Hamilton and the Waikato, it was in the possession of Mrs Mteele til! the Lime of her departure from KatniiUm. wik-n she handed it to the Hamilton branch of idle Victoria, League.

A somewhat serious po-ition is disclosed in the annua! repott of the Wellington Returned ,bokh..-rs’ Association, w-huse membership has faJlon from 5,1C0 in ils beat days to a little over 50.) at tiro pm .’lit lime.—J/re.-s As-o.ie’.ioa.

The annual report of the Dunedin .V'ajuibict ureiAssociation mentioned that during the past year an eh'ort was

made to secure an adjustment of a longstanding nev.Ui* e—the total inadequacy of the omw lull made by the. Union Steam shin (‘ompany lor steamer Communication wait the West Coast. It is

utility years since I'm l Dias.) manuiacturers and merchants establish A an excellent market for their mewls on (lie Coast. Latterly the in frequency ami hopeless uncertainty of Ihe steamer ladings from Dinn-din, combined with the opening of the Dtlra tunnel, caused smioiis (1 islocation of this .valuable trade, and it was foil UiaJ this desirable market would soon he aimed, entirely hut. Strong representations wire made to the U.S.S. Company, vrit!i the. imrnediatc result that a definite promise was given of a regular fortnightly service. Dnlortunatolv, the exrcc',;.lions thus created had net. been realised, as the service was again erratic ami unsatisfactory. The whole question of what stag's could be taken to cater adequately for this trade, in the hope of eventually regaining what, had been largely lord, through neglect, was one that might well have (he close attention of the incoming executive.” Kggs are recognised as a stimulating and solid form of foodst-utt. A husky, welldeveloped, hard-working man is capable of swallowing from throe to four eggs at one meal, and ho may be pardoned for doing so. When a young mart openly wagers that ho (van polish oif close on two score hen eggs at one sitting, it sets one thinking as to the dimensions of his foodstoring organs. The incident related below occurred in a largo property-protecting ostablshment in the city where tvlmut eighteen men of all sizes, ages, and creeds are constantly housed together. The men had dined well, and were about to leave the moss room, when the conversation was switched from horses and horse racing to eatables. A young fellow vowed that ho would oat three dozen boiled eggs at one sitting. The. dare was snapped up by a comrade. The eggs were boiled hard, placed on the moss room table, and the boastful one set to work, while the whole outiit stood round with open months. Ifo swallowed egg after egg until the total reached sixteen. Ho then intimated that “ he was beat.,” and quit. A strapping young comrade then stepped into tho breach ami engaged to swallow the remaining twenty eggs at one silting. He “ went to it ” with a will, and, after the nineteenth egg bad disappeared, announced that he, too, was beaten. Indeed, ho lost no time in quitting tho table, (Pie lacks did not like the idea of one solitary egg going a-begging, so the lady eook was called in and she quietly polished oil tho oiphan. Tho outfit was astounded at tho feat performed by tho young men, and they are, no doubt, right in Ilnur assumption that the originator, if ho continues to swallow eggs in such a wholesale fashion, will soon become a fullfledged crowe. ” Speaking of the open-air school scheme in connection with the erection of the new Richmond School (Christchurch), a local medical man states (wires our correspondent) that he understood it was proposed to erect sixteen class rooms for the now school. An open-air school for sixteen class rooms would prove too ambitious an undertaking for the limited area available for tho erection of the new school, ho said, and it would be preferable to limit the number of rooms to eleven, if tho scheme were to bo a complete success. He considered it a mistake to allow schools to grow so Largo as to become unwieldy, and it was preferable that the number of pupils should bo limited to 500. In the case, of Richmond School, with its roll number of 660. the department .should not allow the roil to increase above this, limit, and the new school should aim at provision for only this number of pupils. It was al.se stated that the British Medical Association had decided to support the scheme of open-air schools.

North Island counties, it is stated, have eh own a more prompt desire to avail themselves of the provisions of the Main Highways Act than counties in the South Island. ' With a few small exceptions, the .Minister of Public Works has approved of the roads proposed hy the Main Highways Hoard for declaration ns main highways. It is expected that the roads will he ' gazetted almost immediately. The totaf length of roads proposed as main highways is 6,200 miles. Tim Minister has also approved of many roads being declared Government roads. This action is necessary in order to grant additional assistance In certain localities, where the statutory £1 for £1 would be difficult to tinaiicv,' those Government loans being particularly numerous in Rotorua and the West Coast of the South .Island. Approximately LOCO miles, included in the 6.200 raik« above, will be Government wads. Operations are already in hand in various parts of Urn dominion under the Highway;; Act. Though all the pronosals received have not yet., boon approved by the board, .seventeen counties, have submitted satisfactory provisional p iUOiKjsais.

There was a clean sheet at the City Police Coart to-day. A Wellington Association telegram states that the weather for the holiday was wot and squally, following a very boisterous night. Despite this, a goodly number left by train and motor for tire Otalri races. The chief attraction locally is the fund try-out match in connection with the selection of the All Black Rugby team. Soccer matches were postponed. In the course of his presidential address before the Fanners’ Union Conference to-day, Mr E. Jj. Mnmey said that the wages paid to those employed'in New Zealand in the textile industry amounted to about £1,300,000. He contended that if the people of New Zealand paid' these workers their wages for doing nothing they would he making a saving of £59.000 per annum by purchasing imparted goods, providing the latter were admitted duty free.

From inquiries made of the Director of the Meteorological Office (Mr D. C. Dates) it appears (says a Wellington message) that there has been a remarkable occurrence in connection with the reports from the Chatham Islands. A week ago the barometric reading was 30.69d0g, while fho reading reported last night was 28.95 deg. The difference of 1.71 m is described as nearly the limit, ami it servos to show how severe the oscillations of the barometer have been. It is curious that both instances have

accounted for stormy weather on the East Coast, easterly winds in the former car;,; and southerly winds in the latter. The cause of these disturbances has to be looked lor further afield, and lor that reason the value and' necessity of such extended observations as might he furnished from ships, etc., is made more u pparent.

There are stirring days in the. Scout movement in New Zealand, and tho memIvors of the different troops have been made keener hi tho enthusiasm they display in their work by reason of the departure of the “All lllack” Scouts for England to attend the great “jamboree” to take place in conjunction with the Dritisn Empire lixliioiiion in London. On Friday eveniag (says the ’Wellington ‘ Post ’) the lads selected to make the trip wore the gm-sts of the Island Day Troop Committee, when lie out Head was presented wilh the Dominion Boy .Scout Association's medal for saving liic in the launch disaster at Island Bay in Janu-

ary last. Ucoutiuaslcr iA W. Slumlord, who will he m command of tho Scouts whilst abroad, stared at tho gathering that tb3 had never had a better team under his care. They would be pretty hard to put down in any game tney played. The Scoutmaster explained why it had been decided to call tho boys to go Home the

“ Arawa ” Ikikrol. V Arawa ” was the muno of on<> of tho first Maori canoes to reach tho rhorcs of New Zealand, and afterwards the name of a great lighting tribe. As the Scouts were the first to leave Now Zealand for England, and as they were leaving on the, liner "Arawa,” the association thought that the patrol should bear that name. It was the wish of the patrol to caidi on soincwln'ro to the tails of those who had made tho colors they wore wearing so famous. They were going to show the Scouts o? the Old World what Scouts of tho New World could do. Newcomers to Dunedin aro cordially invited to join tho “No-rubbing” Laundry Help Club. Full particulars from your grocer.—[AdvL] A l.tani.ion A drawn to U’.o Tramway Social Clubs dance in Coronation Rail, St. Jidda, to-morrow night, at, ci o’clock. Big variety dolls’ prams (new models), 21s, 255, 50s, 40s. —TciM'b While House, George street.—{AdvL]