The Manawatu Daily Times Britain's Bombshell

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 54, 6 March 1935, Page 6

The Manawatu Daily Times Britain's Bombshell

Just when the European situation appeared to be showing a brighter streak in the gloomy sky that has hung over a distracted Continent for a decade or more, Great Birtain’s states.men drop a bombshell in a pronouncement the import of which leaves no room for doubt. The race of armaments is on! Unti 1 now Britain has held aloof in a desperate attempt to avert . catastrophic acceleration of war preparations, and though i had become increasingly obvious over the past two years tha; her most earnest efforts had failed to produce the desired response from the fear-ridden nations of Europe, there was hope of a saner attitude of mind in the recent agreements arrived at between certain of the most warlike of the European Powers. There is a Chinese saying that “he who rides a tiger dare not dismount,” and this would appear to be the trouble both in Europe and Asia. Japan cannot halt in her militaristic march towards her dream of an Asiatic bloc whose aim is to exclude the western nations from the Ear East, and her more recent actions and utterances are a definite menace to British interests there and British prestige in the Pacific, to say nothing of Russia’s claims in Siberia. In Europe every great Power has been on the tiger’s back only to learn the bitter truth of the Eastern proverb, and with the ominous re-awakening of the German martial spirit under Hitler the whole situation has become definitely more menacing during the past twelve months. In a recent book written after a tour of Europe Sir Philip Gibbs declared that the most explosive factor in the situation was the fear of Germany. Every nation bordering on the domain of the reviving giant has developed a panic complex, and all are feverishly arming against the day when the Teuton will have sufficiently recovered his strength lb make a bid for lost possessions.

One of the most significant aspects of the publication of the While Paper is that it coincides with Sir John Simon’s peace mission to Berlin. The Nazi leaders are being given just sufficient time to study its sinister implications before they receive the ablest Foreign Secretary Britain lias employed for a generation. That point has not escaped some of London’s leading dailies, tvho interpret its import according to party predilections. But there must be something far more dangerous in the European situation than meets the eye to account for the launching of such a document at such a time, and lovers of peace can only hope that this plain revelation of Britain’s iron purpose may have a sobering effect on those war-mad leaders who. seem determined to bring civilisation again to the verge of ruin in another cataclysm of blood and destruction. Country’s Win

The brilliant performance of the Wellington country cricket representatives in defeating the city team must be causing some furious thinking among the mandarins who control big cricket. The national summer sport is not the only one which suffers from centralised control, and with the task of choosing an All Black Rugby team looming ahead the salutary rebuff administered this week by the intrepid youngsters from the provincial centres may exert a wholesome influence much farther afield than the boundaries of the Basin Reserve.

It will be remembered that early in the season the Wellington Cricket Association announced that the annual Town versus Country match would not be held this year, as the city players were considered to be quite strong enough to provide the province’s Plunket Shield team. Spirited, protests against such a parochial and unsportsmanlike attitude were voiced from all parts of the province, and Mr. A. M. Ongley, veteran of many fights on the cricket field, carried the' war into the enemy’s camp, with the result that a tardy reversal of the unfortunate decision was made. The game was played, but only after it was too late to have any influence on the fate of the Plunket Shield. That a team by no means representative of the full strength of the country associations should have beaten Wellington’s best is significant of the growing strength of the game outside tire cities, and a tribute to the influence of the Hawke Cup competitions in raising the standard of play. Not the least satisfactory feature of the game was the enthusiastic manner in which the Wellington spectators applauded the victors, and this, together with the candid comment of the city Press, shows that the Wellington Association’s ideas of sportsmanship are fortunately not entertained by the sports-loving public in the Empire City. .