NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20562, 13 May 1930, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

THE SECOND HIGHEST TEAK. The expedition which will attempt to reach the summit of Kanclienjunga may or may not bo attacking tho second highest peak in the world, a correspondent of the Times wrote recent ly. Mount Everest is the highest. As to the mountain which comes nearest to Everest in height thero have been differences of opinion for many years, and thero is no warranty for a dogmatic pronouncement. But it is either Kanclienjunga or that monarch of the Karakorum known as Iv 2 and sometimes called Mount Godwin Austen. They aro so nearly of the same height that, despite tho most accurate trigonometrical survey possible, thero is still room for doubt. As determined by the Survey of India, the heights of the three highest peaks in the world aro:—Mount Everest, 29,002 ft.; K 2, 28,250 ft.; Kanclienjunga, 28,146 ft. This gives K 2 the advantage of 104 ft. over Kanclienjunga. Considering tho very high accuracy of tho work of tho Survey of India, these figures are accepted without question as the heights ascertainable by trigonometrical process. But they are not necessarily tho true heights of the mountains, as is also generally ackr owledged by those competent to form a judgment. Sir Thomas Holditch, whose authority is not questioned, held that thero were boundto bo qrrors " moro or less" in the Survey figures, and that for three reasons. One was ignorance of the laws of refraction in cases where the rays of the sun traversed rarified air in regions covered with snow; and another that the actual height of peaks varies with the increaso or decrease of snow or ice on the summit. Taking into account all the factors, tho problem was worked out by Colonel S. G. Burrard, Superintendent, Trigonometrical Survey of India, who came to the conclusion that the most probablo heights of tho three chief mountains were:—Everest, 29,141 ft.; Kanclienjunga, 28,225 ft.; K 2. 28.191 ft.; thus making Kanclienjunga 34ft. higher than K2. Colonel Burrard's figures were rnado public more than 20 years ago. They did not claim precise accuracy, but Becomingly there aro none better to take their place. Equally there are no new figures to take tho p.ace of those determined by trigonometrical survey. Those are, for the reasons k ;ive.n, almost certainly a little erroneous, > but whether the error is enough to place Kanchenjunga above K 2 cannot bo said.

NAVAL POWERS' POLICIES. Reviewing tho proceedings of tho London Naval Conference before any decisions had been reached, a contributor to the Fortnightly Review remarked that tho fivo Powers held no common view as to tho most important of all the factors affecting their problem—by what is the national strength at sea of a country governed ? " There is a group (France, Italy, and Japan), which thinks armaments should bo adequate, and no more than adequate, for security," he wrote: "Another (tho United States) which thinks its • armaments must bo moro than adequate; and a third (Britain) which thinks inadequacy is sufficient. How can any bodies or delegates come to an agreement when their aims aro so radically different ?" Criticising tho policy announced by the British Government, tho writer says: —"It is indeed difficult to discover the logic of a policy which consists in measuring strength by tho strength of a Power war with whom, it is declared with a wealth of emphasis, is nob within tho region of practical possibility. The British Government remarks in its memorandum that in determining its naval strength, the chances of war breaking out must be estimated 'because unless this is done fleets will be built which will never bo of any use . . . and will at best bo a wasto of national resources,' This however, while it may furnish a reason for having a fleet at all or having none, affords no guidance whatever as to what tho size of the fleet, if one thero is to be, Shall be. Tho fact of the existence of a fleet presupposes the possibility of war or nothing else. Tho possibilitybeing thus by hypothesis admitted, it follows that if that deplorable catastrophe should occur, tho fleet which, in the Government's own words, is 'committed to keip tho highway of the seas open fo trade and communication,' must bo adequate to perform that duty. If the unexpected—war —does occur, if tho judgrn*" of the statesmen as to its probabiMy should prove wrong and tho Empire should find itself faced with a sudden crisis, it will then bo too late to bring the fleet up to the strength needed."

EMPIRE ECONOMIC UNITY. The conclusion that economic unity must be achieved by thq British Empire if it is to avoid disruption was declared by Lord Melchett in an address in London on his return from a visit to South Africa. On the general subject of tariffs, he said he could imagine nothing more foolish than for people in Britain lo tie their hands behind their backs before they entered the conference room. They announced to the whole world their helplessness and incapacity in making a trade agreement when they had no idea of the benefit they

might derive from having those weapons in their hands. To Jay down prohibitions of that kind beforehand was to strike at the root of that necessarily difficult but possible problem of the mutually satisfactory relations of Great Britain and the Dominions and of tho Dominions among themselves, which it was necessary to solve if tho Empire was to remain in existence at all. Nothing made him moro angry than the statement that tho Dominions would do nothing for them. What a libel! The Dominions had already done very much for them and ho had nqver mot a responsible member of tho Dominions who was not prepared to do a great deal moro. No one imagined that all the tariff walls of tho Dominions would fall at tho' blast of a trumpet. What they wanted was tho freest interchange of commodities between Croat Britain and the Dominions. It was a. question of the future existence of (ho greatest Empire tho world had seen or was ever likely to see, yet he saw weak-kneed people judging this great question on the electoral balance. On the one band was tho great economic complex of the United States, which claimed to be conquering tho world; 011 tho other there was bound to ariso the economic uuion of Europe. Where was Great Britain going to stand? Were they to stand wirh Europo, a detached lit tle island ? Was Canada to p;o to tho United States and possibly Australia as well ? They could see the disruption of the Empire taking place under their eyes. The world was moving with enormous velocity economically and politically. There was yet time to save the situation and to create the greatest and most important economic unity tho world had ever seen.