EMPIRE PROBLEMS

Hawera Star, Volume L, 28 July 1930, Page 5

EMPIRE PROBLEMS

LECTURE'. TO FRONTIERSMEN

OHAiWE) TROOP DISCUSSION. Ai lecture, in which ho <lmlt phases of British Umpire .problems a d the Monroe Doctrine was given > Frontiersman J. C. ttndlater at ; the fortnightly parade of the Oluvvve T■ oop. of the legion at Hawera on Thuisday. The lecture followed the routine bus - ness of the parade and proved replete with interest. , , In introducing lii.s subject the hav - er said that there were many V™™*™* ■of vital importance confronting the l.m pire to-day and their solutions were heino- .sought by the British nation. _ it was fitting that as an .Empire organisation frontiersmen should, met and m - cuss those problems. It was often asked “What are the fcoiitievsmenr To this they could reply that the> were a. voluntary patriotic society with no political creed but that of Empire, banded together as a brotherhood ot men who have striven for, and knew the Empire from having seen parts ot its vastness and majesty with their own

i ‘ With the aid of a. large, highways map of the world reference was made to the position of Britain and her colonies. The Empire was compared to a. living body of which each Dominion and colony was a. member. Great Britain, the i receiving and distributing centre, was 'the heart, and the lines of cominunica- ■ t-ion were referred to as the ai terns. Geographically the Atlantic was a com-i I paratively narrow sea, the nortnein .portion of which was enclosed by the ) industrial populations ot Western i Europe (England having 650, Belgium 665 and Holland 589 persons to the (square mile), and on the other by the | great industries and wheat fields or the I U.S.A. and Canada, while the southern ’.part was bounded by vast sources ot I raw materials in Africa and South (America. , , , ‘ “Over 80 per cent, ot the total seaborne trade of the world passes over 'the Atlantic and a fertile source ot j rivalry between U.S.A. and Britain is i the search for exclusive possession oi raw materials for their factories,” coni tinned the speaker. “The raw materials j most desired are those which are the produce of tropical or semi-tropical parts of the world and the; markets most sought after are to he found m wealthy but undeveloped countries such as South America.” The} lecturer proved from the map 1 that owing to the trend of the South American coastline, Plymouth, in England was nearer to _Rio than was the'American base of Newport. “The commercial result of this comparative proximity has been that the financial and industrial bonds between England and the Smith American continent have I recently been stronger than those between South America- and the United States,” lie said. British interests in the Argentine, and Brazil are very I large. The British Peruvian CorporaItion holds rich guano concessions and owns much of the State’s railway. The development of mines, cattle trade and hanking, have been to a great extent carried out by British capital. “Since the beginning of tlio twentieth eentuary, however, the position has changed. The opening of the .Panama can a f has brought San Francisco into closer touch with- the eastern coast of South America. The I'our years.of war gave an open field to 1 nited States' manufacturers, and even the post war period has seen a great advance of United States interests and a corresponding diminution of ours in South America and the West indies. This result had largely been promoted by the Webb law passed by Congress in 1918 which permits a combination oi American business firms engaged in export- trade and this had enabled them to obtain a. larger .share of the export trade of South America, “As long as this rivalry is in the i free and open market nothing but good can come of it; but- the development ol I flie Alon roe Doctrine should be noticed. I This doctrine, as originally formulated jin 1823 to prevent the Holy Alliance J from interfering with the Spanish j Colonies in South America wluv had seceded from Spain, consisted of two parts: (I) A warning aimed at foreign intervention in the political affairs of any part- of the American continent and (2) a warning against- future European colonisation on the American continent. The doctrine was by degrees developed to mean that the States made itself responsible to outside powers for the lives, and property of foreign residents in any part of the American hemisphere- and that it, therefore, had the right to interfere in the disputes of the various independent States' of the American continent. ! “If the doctrine remains purely defensive it is of great value to all nations, but any effort to expand it into some form of Pan-Americanism making the South American continent a United States’ sphere of influence to the disadvantage of Britain would create a serious issue.” i The speaker referred briefly to the Versailles Conference, at which the Powers had admitted the right of the Monroe Doctrine for America thus securing its international recognition. Japan now claimed the same rights and I the adoption of the principle for her in Eastern Asia and also hoped that in time, the League of Nations -would be a means of obliging the white races to Ireeogni.se the principle of racial equality. i In reply to questions the lecturer, {admitted that from his own observation ■ in the States in 1920 tlio Doctrine was ■of paramount importance to tho American people. There was a strong public opinion that Americans -should confine their politics to their own hemishere and on no account should they participate or interfere with European affairs. This -feeling was largely' responsible for the- refusal of the| American Senate to ratify President j Wilson’s “peace” negotiations. The history of the Ivellogg-Jlriaiid Pact was, referred to and tin’s seemed to indicate J a modification of tlio hostility. I Another question elicited l the reply jthnt there was still a certain amount of antagonism by those inhabitants living south of tin' Mason-Dixie lino, who still claimed that they wore. “Southerners" and not. oil any account. “Yankees.” Another query referred to the mandated areas. Japan received the mandate for islands north of the equator) previously owned by Germany and Bri-j tain, received the mandate for those | situated south of the equator in the Pacific. This, in effect meant that* Japan had, taking the Marshall Islands* as a base, moved her “territory” 2000 miles closer to Pearl Harbour, America's first line of naval defence; and also to Australia, and New Zealand. A hearty vote of thanks- to Frontiersman Findlater was moved by Lieut. Stevens and carried with acclamation.