By the Way

Evening Star, Issue 23355, 26 August 1939, Page 3

By the Way

(By X.Y.)

Alas, our Beer Is running dry. It’s growing dear— Too dear to buy. There’s little fun When men carouse Without that “ one Upon the house.” It’s evident That, all along, The Government Can do no wrong. It’s fair enough, This tax that’s due Upon the stuff That brewers brew. But, tell me why In Bacchus’ name Should you and I Not pay the same As heretofore? It’s mean, I think, To charge us more For every drink. It angers us, This cutting out Our little cusTomary “ shout.” For surely none Tastes better than The glass that’s on The publican. We’ll teach them—eh? These stingy screws, T< make us pay For all our booze. No matter what The tax may bo, We want our pot Or “ handle,” free. Arise, ye brave, Wipe out this scandal! We will not have One single “ handle Nor shell out ponce For malt and hops Till this offence Completely drops. We’ll label those Who run the pubs As black as crows Or spades or clubs— At least until It comes to pass That barmen fill That “ buckshee ” glass. The time won’t be So very long, If only we Are stern and strong. The Licetised Bar Will yield, we trust, Before we are As dry as dust. * « * *

The map of Central Europe which appeared in the ‘ Star ’ this week represents less than halfway progress to the Rosenberg plan. The completed map is shown in Ernest Henri’s book, ‘ Hitler Over Europe.’ Already post-’ war Austria and Czecho-Slovakia have been added to the Reich, forming a formidable re-entrant to the salient of the-western part of Poland, selected as Hitler’s nest victim. The full programme of the Greater Germany extends from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean. It embraces Norway, Sweden, Finland, the minor Baltic States, Denmark, Holland, Belgium. Switzerland, Hungary, the Ukraine# and the Balkan States, except Greece and Albania (which presumably will he left, along with Spain, for Italy). This would leave Russia on the east and France and Great Britain on the west to confront a Germany exercising hegemony over Europe, both political and economic.

Heuri, whose book was published in 1934, shows himself intimate with all the forces impelling Germany and an exceptionally keen analyst as well as an accurate prophet up to the present, or up to this week. All along he took it as axiomatic that Germany' and Russia would continue irreconcilable, would remain enemies throughout, but that Germany would not undertake hostilities against Russia, knowing her tremendous resources in men and material. Now, like a bolt from the blue comes the news of the non-aggression pact between those two countries, with bints of the possibility of yet another partition of Poland as first fruits of this most unexpected rapprochement. At the time of- writing the obligations attaching to this pact are very indefinite. Nor are the bona_ tides of the two parties above suspicion. Hitler has more than carried < on the German tradition epitomised in Hollweg’s “ scrap of paper” speech. His word is not his bond. Stalin is more or Jess an unknown quantity in this respect. * * * * The Russian masses have been taken by surprise as great as that of most other nations by this new pact. They have been taught to hate the Swastika. On the other hand, it is only quite recently that Hitler has ceased to fulrainate'against Soviet Russia and to impress on the rest of Europe that Germany was her bulwark against the spread of Bolshevism westward. To say the least the alliance, if such it can be called, is unnatural. Practically all that the two nations have in common is that both have deposed monarchies and substituted dictatorships. The Russian dictatorship aimed at suppression or elimination of the bourgeoisie. Henri insists that Hitler s dietutorship at least promised the supremacy of the upper middle-class and virtually entails the subjugation of the proletariat. And he is confident that not all the concentration camps and the Gestapo and the Hitler youth movement, with its encouragement to children to spy on their parents and report to the local youth leader, will quench the resistance of the German Social Democrats, of whose underground organisation he speaks confidently, also as to their probable revolutionary attitude once Germany actuallv embarks on war. That remains to be seen. * » * » And for the continuance of the Hitler despotism Henri believes war to be imperative—an economic necessity, io cut a long story short, August Thyssen is the man behind Hitler. Essen and Dusseldorf. tho coal and iron interests and the chemical industry, have been hard hit by loss of control of orefields (such as Lorraine) by constriction of markets through French, British, Czech, and American competition, and see the shortest way to recovery through force. The State, by scandalous fleecing of the taxpayer, reconstructed their desperate finances, but that was not enough. Absolute control of raw material and markets is essential. In a special sense the next war, if and when it comes, will be the war of the heavy industries, the armament makers, notably Thyssen and Krupps on the one side and the French Comito des Forges on the other. Unfortunately "VtonopoTv seems to be in a position to dictate the shedding of the blood of those whose political ideal is to resist the spread of monopolies in their own

“The time has come,” the Walrus said; “To talk of many things

States. And into what repugnant associations those people are drawn' by their dictators! The Italians, for example, strongly resent the .infiltration of the jack-booted Germans into their country. *«• « ' .And talking of monopolies, there i» the revolt of the bar customer against the passing-on of the beer tax. Since the decline in the Prohibition Vote the trade has become more venturesome and arbitrary Breweries have steadily acquired public-house property in many parts of New Zealand, both town and country, until the tied-house is by no means the exception. Production and distribution are often in tbe same hands, and, that being so, the consumer has all the less chance of producer and distributor sharing with nim any additional burden dealt out by a soulless Government. He is invited to carry the lot, with a bit extra thrown in for luck. The free-houses, for the most part, show no greater compassion. They have their source of supply to consider, and possibly, the extravagant amounts paid in good will on acquirement of a licensed house help to pul the brake on any impulse to generosity. At one time there was talk m political circles of repressive legislation on. goodwills, but it has ended in nothing—which will probably be the fate also of any move to lessen the gap between the reputed and the actual measure of the containers for consumption on or off the premises. In England there is understood to be fairly heavy taxation, but returned travellers tell us of pints of beer there for twopence.

The Financial Debate in Parliament has probably ended by the time these notes appear. It has been no better and no worse than the majority of such performances in past years. Yet in existing circumstances—the fog of war and heavy financial clouds—it sounds trebly futile when the rank and file of members intersperse statistics of the growth of the pig industry with sterile personalities and trivialities, innocently rejoicing that their pearls Of wisdom are being broadcast over the air. Since this new means of publicity has been employed we have not noticed any perceptible heightening of the respect which the electors entertain for Parliament as an institution. There appears rather to be a feeling of resignation that it is the premium which Democracy has to pay ns an insurance against Dictatorship. Among members on the Government side there appears to be no recognition of the fact that the present Administration has bitten off much more than it can chew* that its financial escapades clash so heavily with its policy of industrialising New Zealand, that the manufacturing firms can import only about a third of the raw material they need’to fulfil orders'and keep their employees busy, or that their generosity in tne matter of pensions threatens to be a success beyond their wildest, dreams—if judged solely by the increasing number of those whom Socialism in our time is pushing down to the qualifying’level.

New Zealand had the reputation of pora&sing more newspapers in proportion' to population than any other country. One. reason, though not the only one, was geographical combined with poor communications. Gradually the provincial Press is thinning but as motor services expand. The Government is being asked to correct this invasion of country by city. The request comes from Westland, where New Zealand’* sole Labour daily paper is published. As declining circulation might be construed as indicating waning popularity of the Labour Government the Mini- , sterial answer was naturally sympathetic, even to the extent of considering the “ zoning ” of the Press of New Zealand. A weak argument might bw advanced in favour of this on the ground of curbing a monopoly; but it would be quite outweighed by the argument against interference with the liberty of the subject. Why should anyone be forced to rely oh an organ with whose views he totally disagrees and bo deprived of the paper to which he ha* been accustomed? After the first step by the State in the control of the Press other steps would follow until this country became no different from Germany and Italy in the subservience of truth to propaganda. Whither that leads we all know. - * • # * PESSIMIST! Versailles is gone—like last year’s flies, ‘And Wilson’s Fourteen Points likewise Have vanished down the shoot. They functioned for a little while, But now they merely raise a smile, , For no one cares a hoot About the way that things were don* In nineteen hundred twenty-one. Locarno I—one-time blessed word, Which everyone with rapture heard And thought it meant a lot! They named—which seemed most: right and-fit— A street in Christchurch after it. Yet dwellers in that spot Could hardly state one concrete fact Concerning the Locarno Pact. The deeds of Dawes—and Kellogg’*. scheme— Propelled a momentary stream Of water at the fire; Yet, have they been of .more avail i Than any idiotic tale . That Clapham tells to Dwyer? They may be resurrected yet; But, all the same, I wouldn’t bet. The League—magnificently housed-** For quite a period aroused Some show of interest. Some nations still send delegates To international debates. But where a®B all the rest? They packed their bags and weal away, In spite of all the League might say. And yet another conference Observes that things are growing tense, And says its little say; Beseeching nations, one and all. To settle things in what you’d call A nice and peaceful way. A further conference, no doubt— Just meet and talk the matter out* I may be pessimistic, but Would such a convocation cut One farthing’s worth of ice? No doubt the hint is kindly meant, > But half the human < race seems bent On war at any price. ■ . . .. So what the deuce (I’m asking you}! Is poor Humanity to do?