The Otago Witness. (WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1919.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3385, 29 January 1919, Page 35

The Otago Witness.

(WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 1919.) THE WEEK.

WITH WHICH IB IHOO*POBATHD Wtß tOUXHXBH UH&OU&X.

"Wuoqaara »llud nutura, »llud §*pi««tla fflilf "Qooi natur* »n<J good sea— mart «▼« Hi*. As the deliberations of the Peace Conference proceed the difficult

Peace Contsrcnco Problems.

and delicate nature of the problems they are called upon to solve become more

and more manifest. It is, however, equally manifest that these problems are being attacked and discussed in a spirit of Peace and. not in a spirit of Avar, in itself a fact of the highest import and of the happiest augury. It has probably been borne in upon the minds of the delegates who compose the Conference that if the essential and fundamental part of their programme and mission be to establish a League of Nations which shall end waxby submitting all international disputes to a super-national tribunal whose decision shall be final, the Conference would stultify itself, should it prove unable for

the task of harmonising ita own of difference and settling its own disputes. One of the first questions engaging the attention of the Conference was the chaos and disorder which prevails throughout the -length and breadth of Russia as the outcome of the Bolshevik regime. Such disorder is distinctly contagious in the incentive it affords to the lawless elements which exist in every community to defy and destroy; thus, until Russia regains a settled government it constitutes a grave and growing menace to the peace of Europe. Recognising this as a fact of importance, the condition of Russia was one of the first subjects discussed by tha Peace Conference, and the discussion had not gone far ere a sharp division of opinion was revealed between the attitude of France and Great Britain. The desirability of attempting to get into touch with the leaders of the Bolshevik movement was advocated by some of the delegates as a first step towards dealing with the Russian problem. The question, whether armed intervention should be re-. sorted to for the restoration of order in Russia had previously been answered in the negative, on the ground that it is within the right of the "people of any land to be allowed to work out their own salvation, without the interference or dictation of other powers. Following this decision it was, strictly speaking, quite logical on the part of Mr Lloyd George to suggest that a conference with the representatives of Russian Bolshevism should be held in Paris itself. To this M. Clemenceau straightway demurred, on the ground that it would bo a mistaken policy to confer with the Bolsheviks,, sinca such conference would involve .recognition of their right to rule in Russia. In this attitude the French Government was supported, not only by a section of the Paris press, but also by representative Russians of _ the Anti-Bolshevik section, notably Prince Lyoff and M. Sazanoff.. . It was President Wilson who proposed a.way out of the apparent deadlock by suggesting that conversation with the representatives of the several coherent elements in Russia; should be arranged for at Princes Island in the Sea of Marmora, and the suggestion was eagerly adopted by the Peace Conference. Opinions differ greatly concerning both the wisdom and outcome of such a step, which after all can only bo judged by its results. At least, it gives Bolshevism a chance to save its face and reform its ways, and, best of all, it indicates the determination of the Confex'ence to go to all lengths and to exhaust every expedient in a desire to preserve the peaca of the world.

Already it is evident that the embarrass.

The Faux-pas of Massr= Hughes and Massey. I

ments of the Peace Con-

ference are likely to proceed from people with an exaggerated idea of thorjr own importance and of the,

„ — £ __ ---^ causes which they represent. Some recent! i utterances of Mr Hughes' on behalf of Aus-j tralia and of Mr Massey on behalf of New Zealand afford cases in point, and 1 the people of the countries they claim to. represent will not feel particularly pleased at thn attitude taken up. With Mr Hughes it is' clearly a case of fools rushing in where angels fear to tread; thoughtful men everywhere agree that one of the . most tremendous problems calling for ' settlement at the present time is the. ; establishment of righteous and peaceful- •' relations between the Eastern and the' Western races, and especially in the case J of China. India, Africa, and- Japan in regard to Europe, Australia, and New, Zealand. It is a wide and far-reaching subject, upon which the dogmatic utter- ; ances of short-sighted men are much to be deplored, since they cause incalculable mischief. Japan has been the faithful ally of Great Britain all through the war, j and she did service of the highest value ' in • safely conveying thousands of New Zealand and Australian troops to the seat of war. One good result of the entrance of America, into the war has been th<f allaying of the friction previously existent between the people of the United State* and the Japanese. It was, to put if mildly, extremely tactless of Mr Hughed to make a statement to an American pape£ which, cabled all over the world, is calcut ' la-ted to re-awaken anti-Japanese preju< j dice besides arousing a feeling of resent- | ment in the minds of the Japanese them- !. selves. "If we don't get fair treatment I concerning the Pacific Islands," Mr ; Hughes is reported to have said, "I wilj ! not hesitate to appeal to the publicl opinion of the Allied countries. Thi Japanese are a highly intelligent people, but their ways are not our ways. Wa would regard with suspicion any geographical advance of Japan towards Australia." The spirit underlying thatj utterance is the spirit of War, and not the spirit of Peace; it implies an appeal against the decision of the Peace Conference, besides imputing motives of aggrandisement to a loyal ally. Although; in a subsequent utterance Mr HugheS seems to have endeavoured to modify the implications and soften the crudeness of bis original- statement, the mischief had already been done, and Mr Lloyd is now confronted with the awkward task I of appeasing the Japanese Peace delegates. | Seeing that Mr Hughes has been given opportunity to state the case—with the aid of a map of the Pacific—for Australia, he would have done more wisely to avoid prejudicing that case by keeping his mouth shut on the subject while in America; and the same remark applies to Mr Massey in regard to Samoa. Mr Massey's melodramatic declaration that New Zealand would never give Samoa tip to Germany is altogether beside the point; the ques* I tion at issue before the Conference isvthei neutralisation of the islands of the PacifM I as against British control, and America'' is understood to favour the former, course. In regard to Australia, the Japanese claim that the Pacini island? southward of the equator, with an area of 900,000 square miles, would give room for the development of Japan, peacefully, economically, and naturally is one which may not lightlys bo disregarded, and Great Britain insists

that in 1915 the Australian Government under Mr Fisher accepted that solution. The probabilities are that Mr Hughes will be compelled to give way.

The toll of deaths exacted by the influenza epidemic is gradually being

The Influenza Death Roll.

made known, and the statement is a- terrible one. In

England and Wales alone

the deaths reported total within woor three of 100,000, while in South Africa ao fewer than 11,000 Europeans and 127,000 natives fell victims to the disease, and it is feared that even this large total does not represent the entire ravages ot the epidemic. The official figures at last made public regarding the mortality in this Dominion show a total death roll of 5959 between October 1 and December 31, from influenza •or subsequent complications. Local records, however, cast some doubt on the completeness of this record; in some of the more remote country districts deaths Cccurred that were never reported, and altogether it may safely be assumed that influenza has robbed New Zealand cA more than 6000 extremely valuable lives. This is considerably more than an average years losses of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces in the great wax, and the monetary value of that loss is too great to be adequately estimated. Upon a purely actuarial basis the influenza has cost In those 6000 deaths more than two millions sterling, to which has to be added the heavy expenditure in fighting the epidemic and in providing for the widows and orphans deprived of their protectors and breadwinners. These serious considerations necessarily lend great interest to the supreme efforts which are being made in Australia to save the Commonwealth from a like devastation, an interest intensified by the reports of the outbreak in Melbourne. Should the Australian authorities happily succeed in checking the spread of the disease, the moral will not be lost upon the people of New Zealand. The Federal Health authorities appear to have taken time by the forelock and made ample and adequate preparations for quarantining all suspects so soon as news of the outbreak in South Africa reached them; and they were amply reAvarded for 'their efforts.

! As there appears to have been some misunderstanding in regard to the aotion of the Otago Acclimatisation Society in issuing fishing licenses to returned soldiers, the president (Mr G. W. MTntosh) made the position cle:*? at tho meeting last evening. The society, he stated, issued free fishing licenses to returned invalided soldiers during tho period of then* convalescence, but this., privilege was not extended to men once they had been granted their discharge. During the progress of tho Second Grade pricket match between Overseas A and Christian Brothers on the Caledonian Ground on Saturday a mean theft occurred by- which some six youths were relieved of a sum of money, totalling well over 30s, one youth being a loser by nearly £l. " The thieves entered the shed while the Overseas team was fielding, and went through the pockets of tho players. In all cases, with the exception of on©, the thieves left 3d, evidently for car faro. At a sitting of tho Magistrate's Court on Monday Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., gave his decision in tho Port Chalmers lioensing case, in whioh John Douglas Warden was convicted on a charge of selling liquor on Sunday, Jan. 12, after the arrival of the troopship Tahiti. The Magistrate stated that the offence was a moro serious one at the present time than ft would have been prior to the outbreak of war. Tho argument that tho landlord would be prejudicially affected if his license were endorsed would, if carried to its logical conclusion, means that perhaps not ono license in five would bo endorsed because the interests of some innocent party might be' prejudiced. He was of tho opinion in the case under review that it was impossible for him to do otherwise than order tho license to be endorsed. .The license would be fined £lO,. with costs (7s!, a record of the conviction to be endorsed on tho license.

Mr Walter Dowie, of North-East Valley, has received from Sir Douglas Haig an autograph acknowledgment of the receipt of two pairs of socks, knitted by himself, which, after he had completed the knitting of 200 pairs of socks for the troops, he forwarded in August last to the Field Marshal, In his letter to Mr Dowie, Sir Douglas Haig pays a high tribute to the New Zealand division. Writing on November 5, he says:—" Please accept my very best thanks for the two pairs of beautiful socks which you have so kindly sent me, and which have just arrived. lam Sreatly touched by your thinking of me at ii 3 time, and I appreciate your thought all the more as you come from the Kingdom of Fife. The New Zealand Division is a great credit to you all. You must feel very proud of the splendid fellows you have sent to Europe to fight for all we hold most doar. lam personally very proud to have the division fighting tinder my orders, and T can't tell you how my heart goes out to your grand fellows; they are such thorough men in every way." ■ The workers' dwellings erected under the auspices of the Labour Department total up to date 648. A statement issued by Mr F. W. Rowley (superintendent of workers' dwellings) gives, as under, the number of such dwellings erected since 1911, together with tho cost of the same:—l9ll-12, 59 dwellings, £22,701 j 1912-13, 43, £46,899) 1913-14-, 81, £42,024; 1914-15, 162, £68,737. The figures for the war pei-iod were:—J9ls- - 82, £56,595; 1916-17, 66, £35,951 ; 1917IS, 21, £15,917; 1918-19 (to date), 8. The total number of workers' dwellings erected under the 1905 Act from 1908 to 1911 was 126.

On Saturday, February 8, an exhibition of "flying" /will be given in Dunedn by Mr O. M. Hill, t chief instructor to the Cantorbury Aviation Company. The exhibition will oommenoo at 2.30 p.m. Information as jo passenger flights during Mr Hill's star |n JJiinedin may be obtained from Mr E. 8. Wilson.