By the Way

Evening Star, Issue 23421, 11 November 1939, Page 3

By the Way

(By XX)

Where Siegfried looks at Maginot A war is being waged, Wherein two million men, or so. Are busily engaged. ■ This much is clear to anyone; But what the deuce is being done? An aeroplane or two comes down, Or else returns, perhaps, From dropping leaflets on a town, Or taking useful snaps. But otherwise. 1 it seems, this war Is mostly where it was before, A steamer on the ocean wave Is scuppered, now and then, While others come along‘and save Its drenched, disgusted men; And now and then a submarine Submerges—td be no more seen, So Siegfried scowls at Maginot, ! And Maginot scowls back; But'whioh will strike the foremost blow, Or make the first attack? For cables don’t record_ a thing, But desultory skirmishing. Yet, over all the cable page, And over all the world, Loud propagandists ramp and rage And epithets are hurled. The air resounds with taps and knocks From timid neutrals building Blocs. The experts have it cut_ and dried ; And swear through thick and thin That this (or sometimes t’other) side Is simply bound to win; Like busy bookies, all intent On backing oh the Big Event. From east and west, from south and north, In all directions bound, Ambassadors flit back and forth, And envoys scurry round. Each acts, reacts, and counteracts With treaties, guarantees, and pacts. Each neutral State (pro tem.) is quite

Determined to aver 11 We must not, will not, cannot fight. Whatever may occur.” Yet all the while their frontier lines Are bristling like a porcupine's. One says the war will quickly end. One says it will be long; On this, at least, you may depend— That one of them is wrong; But who can guess when ’twill be done, Before it’s properly begun?

Emergence from a winter of some severity in its later stages Has been a dull and uncomfortable process. Prophecies of an early spring crumbled to dust. For there was no frequent alternation of sunshine _ and shower which constitutes the ideal growing weather. • Cold winds swept pastures which received only a transient stimulus from a mere half-inch of tain which punctuated a seemingly interminable stretch of inopportune aridness. 4 The production of which our politicians glibly talk is getting as much or as little encouragement from Nature as from those who regiment our economic life, while blandly throwing out occasional fragments of wisdom concerning each individual having his own niche in life, etc., etc. Admittedly the # horizon across which this' particular Ministerial meteor flashed was the opening of the Centenary Exhibition—an occasion on which one expects nothing but platithde, and is not disappointed. As to the Ministerial niches themselves, the; Law of Change operates against the comfortable doctrine of a lease-in-perpetuity.

Not the least noteworthy occurrence in a week which comprises the Southern Saturnalia of Sport in Christchurch, the opening of the v Exhibition in Wellington, and a busy time for the caddies bn the adjacent Miramar golf links, has been the Caucus of the Government Party. The secrecy which characterises these gatherings has been neither greater nor less than is customary, but those who like to read between the lines profess to discern a chastened spirit because of the highly-diluted form in which the “ all’s well ” was issued after all was over. Rumour insists that the caucus disclosed Solidarity to have become even more fluid than heretofore. 'the state of the leader’s,health inevitably induces complications, reawakens old personal ambitions and creates fresh ones. Nevertheless, we take the opportunity of opposing the surmise that the long , delay of the German offensive is attributable to the High Command waiting to see how the cat jumps in Wellington, and whether the British Empire will crack before the Third Reich.

On the authority of an ex-Minister of the Crown who was rather in the confidence of the then Opposition, when the leadership became vacant on the last occasion years ago the followings of the two outstanding candidates were so evenly balanced that, rather than risk friction, the party as a whole decided on a compromise, and the two rivals became colleagues under the more mediocre leader when at length the time came for the formation of a Cabinet. Will history repeat itself ? For only a. portion of the. time have the two Ministers been continuously at headquarters together. Hemispheres apart seems to suit them best. Mr Fraser is at present in London being received by Royalty. The Minister for Blockade Us one might term him) has had his trip abroad; but though he is “on the spot,” it is in more senses than one. Why else should the manysided Mr Semple deem it his duty to give for public consumption a lecturette on inflation, and the desirability to have a , backing of commodity production behind a paper Issue?

The Low Countries have emitted a groan. A playwright whose name is taboo once wrote a comedy entitled ‘ The Importance of Being Ernest.’ Either Wilhelmina or Leopold could write a tragedy on the Agony of being Neutral. Neither Holland nor Belgium is a warlike nation, nor is either a particularly affluent nation. Both, however, suffer under the double disability of being contiguous_ to Germany and of possessing colonies—which latter qualification, to bereft Germany, is as a red rag to a bull. The Scandinavian group—Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark—have been conferring over the (figuratively) filthy state of the Baltic, the physical danger of mariners, and the financial risks of shipowners, under a condominium in which one of the parties does its aggression below the surface of the sea and the other marks out desirable sites for naval bases irrespective of ownership. It is understood that all these northern neutrals, whether threatened bv land or sen, have met in conference, and probably the Powers with the dreadful liability of land frontiers have, been deputed to put out the ouavering feeler for yet another trial of appeasement. There is even a bare possibility that there has been Hitlerian prompting in this matter. Ap-

“The time has come, h the t Walrus said; “To talk of many (Kings. ’

peasement has been tried out in the last few months with very indifferent results to all parties. Germany-has enlarged her boundaries, containing an indigestible mess; the Allies have unredeemed promises, and the threat to existence.

.The American debate oh neutrality! did not, after all, outlast the war. In harmony with, the trend of soma branches of retail trade the desirability of retaining < customers has been affirmed so long as no long credits ara extended, with the likelihood of repudiation of debt after an unequal struggle. America, will sell to any belligerent so long as that belligerent pays cash and prdvides the carriers to take delivery. Thus we have the “.cash and carry ” system in. international transactions. Many good Americans are strongly against this departure from a policy of absolute isolation. Some Americans are even irata over Britain’s new departure in making Canada much more than a mere branch in the armaments manufacturing industry. For it would, they fear, tend to shift the, centre of gravity or war so far into the Western Hemisphere as to be the equivalent of drying up the Atlantic Ocean. If the war could be won by this marshalling of resources without the spilling of blood pn tha scale envisaged thereby, it might be all to the good. Even so, what an impoverished and exhausted > world would remain to face a depression compared with which the last one would be ephemeral I » * * tt Next to the Baltic Powers and Germany and Japan, the country which ought to be particularly concerned over the plans and potentialities of Soviet! Russia is our own New Zealand. Sinca the retirement of Mr Peter Neilson, M.P., from the list of tutors in thia subject (through the correspondence course in which the daily Press was the medium) the Friends of Russia have had to look elsewhere for sustenance or go without. Not even the_ re-entry, of “ E.W.F. ” as guide, philosopher, and friend, after a adverse series of engagements with flintyhearted editors in the North Island, haa compensated for the deprivation. But if anyone interested wants enlightenment, may “ X.Y.” recommend a books entitled^ 1 In Search of Soviet Gold.’ Ita author, John D. Littlepage, a mining engineer from Alaska, spent the decade 1927-1937 in the service of the_ Soviet’s Gold Trust organising, nursing, and managing not only gold mines, but copper, lead, and zinc mines in the Ural Mountains and further east and south in Siberia. ••" * • A man of 6ft 3in in height, with an iron constitution, he is obviously the possessor also of an open mind and remarkable powers of observation, analysis, and—to make the book easy reading—of description. There are somai authors who are transparently truthful* and Mr Littlepage ranks among them* A great deal about Russia perplexes the average man as contradictory, and ita system of government is still an enigma* Here a great deal is made plain. Russia* had its first revolution in 1917, but another ot lio less vital a kind about 10 years lateri a third after an interval 08 about four)years, and since,thena series of revolutions of which the end is non yet. But the point of interest to New Zealanders His how many aspects • ofi Soviet Government bear an intimate resemblance to the efforts which tha present New Zealand Government ia making. Possibly at a future date some parallels may be given in this column.

Hooray for the end of the year--The final and ultimate quarter When sniffles and snows disappear, . And nights are perceptibly shorter J When bumble bees hum And butterflies come To gobble the greens in our gardens* Dispensing (the thieves!) . With “ begging your leaves, And, likewise, with “begging you* pardons.” The sun, with his smile from the sky. Is chasing the chill from the ocean, j And brown-loving bathers will buy The liniment, ointment, or lotion Ensuring the limbs Of hers and of hims Who wallow like seals on the beaches* Unblushingly bare, Disdaining the wear Of blouses and blazers and breeches, I’d long to be twenty or so. Each frolicsome first of Novembers But, dash it! the older I grow. The more. I , shall grimly remember ' What happened to me In Blank-blank A.D., „ My heyday of youth (while it» lasted) — , - For one beastly, thing, I hated the Spring, When all my enjoyment was blasted* For Spring is the time of exams.. And they are the bane of existence* To every poor scholar who crams His head to the verge of resistance! Who dolefully sits With wandering wits Beside an exiguous table For three dismal hours, i Exerting his powers i On questions—as far as.he’s able. O season of sweetness and-joy I . O Youth, all triumphantly spien* did! I’m glad I’m no longer a boy— . I’m glad my exam, time has ended#. Perhaps iny degree Is useless to me; _ Perhaps I’m an absolute buffer; Yet, once in a while. It’s. Age that can smile, When youth must be solemn anil suffer. '