The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1922.) THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3556, 9 May 1922, Page 39

The Otago Witness. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE SOUTHERN MERCURY. (TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1922.) THE WEEK.

"Nunquam allml natura, allud sapientia dixit."! —Juvenal. “Good nature and good eease must ever ioin.”—» Pop*. An Australian who has just returned to London from Genoa is reported to have declared that if the Genoa Conference fails to achieve something a European War will be almost inevitable. The standing and authority of the gentleman in question is not mentioned ; at least, it re-echoes and emphasises the utterances of Mr Lloyd George on which we commented last week. That this view is not an extreme one is evident from the sentiments expressed by General Smuts, who, interviewed on the prospects of the Genoa Conference, declared that, unless Mr Lloyd George could succeed in modifying the policy of M. Poincare and M. Tehitcherin, disarmament must disappear all over Europe, and an Armageddon would become the only goal of civilisation. General Smuts ended by saying: “With all my heart I pVay .for victory for Mr Lloyd George in this struggle. If he fails the results will be lamentable.’ The Australian authority, already ouoted, puts the outstanding issues before the Genoa Conference into two or three striking sentences. The Bolshevik Government, he asserts, having exhausted all avenues of spoliation an d robliery, cannot continue under present conditions, and unless Russia can obtain loans, or be granted relief in the shape of some measure of trade reciprocity she must be smashed. Trade with Germany is essential to her payment of reparation". Italy is bankrupt, and must be supplied with raw materials, while France persists in a desire to seize the Ruhr rather than heln to place German trade on a sure foundation. Tims the choice is being forced upon Great Britain of decision between trading with Germany and Russia—which she is quite willing to do—or of breaking with France, which she does not desire. It remains <■> be seen whether the genius of Mr Lloyd George will he equal to this perplexing situation. A great deal depends no-m the actual attitude of the French people themselves. Straws sometimes indicate the direction of the current, and He French newspaper L’Oeuvre —presumable a Labour organ —is credited with the followin'* expression o f omnion: “Let M. .Poincare be not deceived. Never lias the public opinion of France been more in contradiction with the newspapers which are supposed to represent it. The mailin'v of the French people will not have war at any price or under any pretext. No reasonable Frenchman can fail to perceive that France’s present noliev of provocation is inevitably tending towards another butcherv. Is it not enough that French lie dead?” This brings into WI relief what is reollv the crux of the whole question—viz., that if the people who compose the nations desire peace and determine to have it, there will he no more war. The danger is that the people mr-v permit the politicians to sneak and act nr their stead just as M. Poincare is at the moment doing for France Onlv let. the people of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia evince as active a determination to win peace, and out their whole souls into it. as thev did in their effort* to win the war. and a settlement would au ickly he reached. There is force and feeling in some words written in the earlv davs of the New Year Ee a well-known publicist,, and which with profit may he recalled to-dav: “Of all gifts which we most earnestly desire for our Empire first comes Peace: indeed, there were scarcely need of any other gift were that of peace vouchsafed., for contentment and prosperity must asuredly follow as night the dav. To win peace, however, we must employ just as much enthusiasm and energy as in war time. As a friend said to me the other day: ‘We talk about active war. and bv our acts we demonstrate that we understand what we mean bv these words, but we shall never overcome our difficulties till we are prepared to work arduously for an active peace, to throw our whole selves into the task of winning the peace.’ ” The world’s urgent need for peace as a restorer of the economic and financial fabric is nowhere more faithfully reflected than in the Budget presented to the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer last week. And it has to be remembered that Great Britain, alone among the nations with the exception, perhaps, of America, still occupies a position of undoubted financial stability. Despite certain unfavourable circumstances in the form of strikes and widespread unemployment, the Chancellor

Is European War Inevitable?

Tho British Budget.

iras able to report a substantial surplus, which is to be utilised in the reduction of taxation which is pressing heavily upon commerce and industry. Indeed, so great is the need for taxation reductions that Sir Robert Horne has accepted the risk of bringing the estimated expenditure for the current year almost on a level with the estimated revenue, an experiment which, by all financial tradition and canons, must be regarded as distinctly dangerous. Probably, however, the Chancellor is relying on the recommendations of the Geddes economy commission, which forecast still further curtailments in the national expenditure. Obviously, retrenchment is the preliminai’v to the remission of taxation, just as such remission is the advance guard in the relief of unemployment and a revival in trade anjl industry. A remarkable side-light on the financial and economic situation in the Homeland is shed bv the successful flotation of the New South Wales loan at per cent., thereby overshadowing Mr Massey’s recent venture in the London money market. Whatever be the actual result of Sir George Fuller’s flotation, it reveals a decided easing in the London money market. Another indication of the same sort is seen in the statement that a New Zealand firm, unable to secure accommodation in the Dominion at a lower rate than seven per cent., had all its requirements met in London at five per cent. Tt is apparent, therefore, that large sums of money are available in London for investment in Colonial securities at much lower rates than have been available in recent years, and this must be a good thing for the Dominion, and should react ultimately in the direction of cheaper money and a consequent fall in the price of commodities, fin the other hand, this plenitude of money for investment in Great Britain seems to show a lack of confidence on the part of capitalists in industrial enterprises in their own land. The probable explanation, however, is to he found in the disturbed state of Europe which, under normal conditions, and especially' on the eve of vast reconstruction programmes, offers an immense field for capitalistic enterprise. Russia alone, '.f once a satisfaetbry sfettlement conld be reached dulv safeguarding individual enterprise, would afford an outlet for many years to come for all the capital available m Great Britain and America : and the same holds good over the greater part of Europe. This is why all eyes turn anxiously towards Genoa, since the failure of the Conference, or even its adjournment, must postpone throughout the British Empire, and indeed all over the world, that return to peace and prosneritv so intensely desired hv the right-minded men. If it be difficult to gain a correct apprehension of what is actually transpiring in all parts of the world, the difficulty is doubly increased when attention is concentrated in China. Beyond the fact that a revolution is in progress and that a number of generals and presidents and others with weird and unpronounceable names are taking part therein, nothing very clear emerges from recent cable communications. There is a feud between Northern and Southern China almost as pronounced as that existent between Northern and Southern Ireland, and with much the same result, except that the Chinese are scarcely so fond of actual fighting as are the Irish. Although there is news of fighting around Pekin, there is no word of casualties, and while the revolution in progress mav be serious enough it is difficult to estimate its actual importance. It has to be remembered that, from the point of view of numbers, the Chinese people equal the whole population of Europe, and yet both on land and sea they- were unable to secure victory over Japan. Writing of the war between Japan and China, one authority remarks: “The exploits of Japan’s forces had excited a degree of surprise among the Powers of the world which might, without exaggeration, be described as sensational, and the hare facts were in themselves sufficiently remarkable to account for the astonishment they caused. Two Governments had gone to war. Each ruled over an Asiatic race of Mongolian extinction, but one of these was at least ten times as numerous as the other, a disproportion eaual to that between the populations of Germany and Belgium. Yet it was the dwarf that had thrown the giant in the struggle, and, holding his opponent down with one hand, had taken what- he wanted from him with the other.” The worst feature of the Chinese situation is that, at a period when the world needs peace, this huge nation should be educated in the arbitrement of war. The millions of Chinese once converted into efficient soldiers -would present a tremendous menace to the world.

Ctaina in Turmoil.

In all 4496 boxes of apples were consigned from Beaumont at the beginnin? of last week for shipment per s.s. Cornwall, for London. Of these 1750 boxes are from Roxburgh, where they were packed in a central packing shed. These are being shipped through the National Mortgage and Agency Company (Dunedin), while the others are going through Thomas BossWalker. of Hobart. The packing, locally, was under the supervision of a local committee, assisted by the Government instructor, Mr Goodman, and the packing and handling staff, as well as material, was supplied by it, the cost to he divided pro rata among the shippers. The fruit was mechanically graded, and though the packers did not possess a great deal of experience in packing for export, their output, after the first day was quite up to the standard of experienced packers, and the duty of the inspecting officer was very light. Quite as much interest is being centred in the cost of packing the consignment as in its ultimate result, as it will afford a practical demonstration of the cost of operating a central packing shed.

A cable message published in Australia with reference to the five million loan, which the Government of New Zealand has floated in London, states that £3,000,000 of the loan money is already booked for expenditure in Great Britain on railway material which is urgently required in the dominion. Prior to the close of the meeting of the Otago Harbour Board on Friday afternoon Mr Loudon leferred to a matter in connection with the possible establishment of a new industry in Dimedin. He stated that during the previous week a deputation from the Otago Expansion League, and including several business men, had waited on the chairman (Mr Scollay) and some of the members of the board with regard to the extension of Messrs Bryant and May’s match works in New Zealand. The deputation stated that this firm had experienced difficulty in securing accommodation for its new factory in Wellington, whereas splendid facilities could be offered in Dunedin on the Harbour Board’s lands. Mr Scollay had informed the deputation that the board had not been idle, and that particulars exf their available lands liad been distributed broadcast throughout the dominion and the commonwealth. A telegram had later been sent to Messrs Bryant and May and a courteous reply had been received, stating that the representations made therein would be fully considered. On the motion of Mr Loudon _ the board authorised the chairman to take any steps he considered necessary to further the matter, and it also agreed that Mr N. Galbraith, who purposes visiting Wellington early next week, should be authorised officially to wait upon Messrs Bryant and May and supply them with full details as to the sites and facilities available on the harbour lands in Dunedin for the establishment/ of their factory. A full supply of fish was on sale at the Rattray street wharf on Friday, no fewer than five trawlers —the Bravo, the Moerangi, the Freda Powell, the Kaiora, and the Christina—having brought harvests from the sea. At the meeting of the City Council on Wednesday night the Finance Committee will recommend that authority be granted to proceed with the flotation of the unraised balance of the tramways loan of £26,000, - subject to a satisfactory reply being received from the Government relative to the department’s antecedent liability. It may be remembered that the Otago Patriotic Association voted to the Belgian Orphan Fund the balance of the sum raised by it for relief purposes in Belgium. After years of delay the money has reached the hands of Mr E. Pollett, Consul-general for Belgium in London, along with a sum by the Auckland Patriotic Association, which comprises the larger part of the amount forwarded from New Zealand to. the Belgian Orphan Fund. Mr G. L. Denniston, Consul for Belgium in Otago, has now received a letter- from Mr Pollett, which, acknowledging a donation of £7141 from the Otago Patriotic Association as a part of a total cheque of £23,161 10s lid from the High Commissioner for New Zealand, will be of interest to those who were instrumental in raising the money. “I have to thank you most sincerely for what you have done in the matter,” Mr Pollei writes to Mr Denniston, “and beg you to express our profound gratitude to the Otago Association for its very important donation. As you know, the money will be used for the establishment and working of an agricultural, horticultural, and professional school we have organised at Mont Saint Guibert, Brabant, Belgium. We think no better use of the donations could be made, and I am sure the New 7 Zealand donors, all interested in agriculture, will approve of our decision.” A Press Association telegram says tha! a representative meeting of cheese factory suppliers at Carterton approved the proposal to establish a dairy produce pool. The retail price of milk in Balclutha lias been reduced from 5d to 3d a quart. The price in Dunedin has been increased from 4d to 6d a quart as from the beginning of the month. Sergeant Murray and Constables Meiklejohn and Watkins raided a house at South Dunedin on Friday night to ascertain whether there w 7 as any ground for their suspicion that it was w'hat in common parlance is known as a sly grog shop. As the police were ready to enter the house they met two men coming out, both of them having bottles of beer in their possession. They were ushered back into the house, where four other men were discovered, with the owner, indulging in a convivial ’glass. Shortly after there w 7 as a knock at the door, and then the reassuring remark, “It’s all right, Peter.” The newcomer -was courteously but firmly invited by the police to come right in. Another thirsty individual knocked at the door immediately after. He, too, confidentially informed Peter that it was all right. The police gave him a hearty welcome, and in he~ walked despite the fact that it had dawned on him that it was all wrong. The small house was non 7 getting uncomfortably crowded, but not many minutes had elapsed when again came a knock at the door. The latest comer, in hushed tones, told “Peter” it was quite all right, and the police did not dispute his statement as they asked him to walk into their parlour—or rather Peter’s parlour. There were now 13 —an unlucky number, so it is said—in the house, and the police decided to close their bag. A search of the house was made, and three dozen and nine bottles of beer were found. A prosecution will follow in due course. Three additional charges of indecent assault on boys were brought against Edward Andrew Axelsen in the City Police Court on Saturday. Accused was remanded on the four charges until next Saturday, on the application of Mr C. J. L. White* On the first charge bail was fixed in accused’s own recognisance of £2OO, and two similar sureties or one of £4OO. On each of the other charges accused was allowed bail in his own recognisance of £2OO. Mr ,T. R. Bartholomew, S.M., was on the bench.

The trial of James Reynolds Haynes, chemist, on a charge of manslaughter, arising out of the death of a Timaru woman last year, will open at Christchurch on Friday. Mr A. C. Hanlon will go north on behalf of accused. A sale of goods, etc., in connection with the rasing of funds for Russian relief was held at the Old Post Office cm Saturday morning, when satisfactory business resulted, the sale was continued on Monday forenoon, and again in the afternoon. The total amount now raised is in the vicinity of £7OO, The effort made at Port Chalmers on Friday and Saturday -on behalf of the Russian Famine Fund resulted in the sum of £llO being collected. This sum included the amounts roalised from canvassing, ana from the sale of fish and produce. By a notification in the "New Zealand Gazette, the Wingatui racecourse is declared a sanctuary- for native and imported game.