Barcelona

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 27 January 1939, Page 7

Barcelona

Notes on the News

Barcelona, which is so hotly attacked by the Spanish rebels, is the largest and most important manufacturing city iu Spuin, aud the principal seaport. It is situated on a plain between two rivers, Bescs and Llobregat, ami bounded on one side by the Mediterranean, and on the other by the Tibi* dabo mountain range. The soil in the plain is remarkably fertile, producing wheat, oranges, lemons, plums, peaches, almonds, olives, grapes aud vegeta hies. Formerly the city was surrounded by ramparts, but these were pulled down nearly 100 years ago because they impeded the growth of the city. They were turned into boulevards and today, or at least before Franco’s at tack ou it, modern Barcelona was on tlie way to outstrip Paris in the mat ter of fine, broad asphalted streets, splendid boulevards, and magnificent buildings. Because of the manufacture of woollens aiul other fabrics, Barcelona lias been called the "Manchester of the Mediterranean.” The harbour is an excellent one. with a maximum depth of 30 feet. Twelve shipping Hues make it their headquarters, and it is a port of call for about 40 others. Some two and a half million tons of shipping use the port annually. The first international exhibition to be held siuce the Great War was opened in Barcelona in 1020. Harry Bridges’ Case A resolution has becu introduced into the United States House of Representatives asking for the impeachment of Miss Perkins, Secretary of Labour, for her failure to take action against the Labour leader, Ilarry Bridges. Attempts are being made to have Harry Bridges expelled from the United States beouuse his activities among longshoremen are regarded in certain quarters as subversive of the American constitution, and of law and order. Also that he is illegally in the United States. Miss Perkins has herself set out her view of the position. She says: "According to the records of the, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Harry Bridges, a native of Australia and a British subject, was legally admitted to the United States in 1920. He tiled declarations of intention to become an American citizen in New Orleans in 1921 and in San Francisco in 1928, both of which were permitted to expire. ‘‘lt wag not until after he tiecume a prominent figure as a result of a labour leadership which developed during tlie longshoremen's strike of 1954 that any question was ever raised as to his status as a quota immigrant legally eutiticd lo reside in the United States. During the strike the department received letters charging that Bridges was a Communist and should be deported. "These charges were carefully investigated at that time, and in 1935 the San Francisco District of Immigration and Naturalization reported that an investigation of all these charges failed to show that Bridges was connected with the Communist Party or with any other radical organization. "It was not until last autumn, .vben the Seattle office submitted some aliidavits signed by persons who alleged that they bad seen Bridges participating in Communist Party meetings that any concrete charges were filed iu this department. [Labour!. With my approval a further investigation was then undertaken, which failed to show conclusively whether these affidavits were true or false.”

.Miss Frances I'erkins The career of Miss Frances Perkins has been one of "unrelenting success.” She left college at 20, aud from 1907 to 1909 she was secretary of the Philadelphia Research and Protective Association. A succession of public offices led her in 1913 to the directorship of investigations to the New York State Factory Commission. From 1917 to 3919 she was Executive-Director of the New York County Council of Organization for War Service. She got her portfolio as America’s first woman secretary of Labour without any organized Labour backing. Though she is known officially as Miss Frances Perkins, she is a married woman, her husband being Mr. Paul C. Wilson. She married him iu 1913 when he was secretary to the then mayor of New York. She has retained her maiden name in public, not wishing to embarrass her husband with her political activities. “In Washington she Las ro home,” pays a writer. "There are three friends in the district who put a room at her disposal. At weekends she goes home to the flat on the fourth floor of an old-fashioned red brick building in New York. “There is no radio in her home. She dislikes it. She is a keen critic of modern art. apd herself paints in water colours in spare momeuts. . . . She takes to sewing when she is worried. "She once told one famous senator that what he said did uot make Her oratory lias won her many votes from hostile quarters. A woman of strength and tire, she has done as much for women as anyone in America. President Roosevelt once said of her: "She is a most brilliant person.” French Empire The Colonial Committee in France has tabled a resolution proclaiming that all parts of the French Empire are placed under the safeguard of France’s sovereignty and cannot be divided, shared or abandoned. The French Empire is by no means a negligible quantity. During ihe Great War the colonies sent to France 3(>0,000 fighting men and 200.000 work troops. They contributed 1,000,000 francs toward the cost of the war, and supplied goods and raw materials Lo the extent of 2.500,000 tons.

Like the British Empire, the French Empire encircles the giobe. It constitutes one-sixteeutli of the world’s land, with an area of nearly 3,000,000 square miles. Only the British Empire and the Russian surpass it in exleut._ The colonial population is more than 07,000,000, making with France’s almost statiouarv 42,000,000 inhabitants a grand total of more than 109,000,000. In population, therefore, France ranks fifthafter the British Empire, China, Russia and the United States. The French Empire is widely scattered and distant from the homeland, making it extremely difficult to defend. Nearly all the principal comules lie within the tropics, making the climatic conditions unsuitable to Europeans, and only Algeria, Tunis aud New Caledonia have any considerable proportion of white residents. The colonies are capable of producing in quantity practically every product that the nation at war would require. with the possible exception of petroleum.