PUBLIC OPINION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17527, 2 May 1925, Page 8

PUBLIC OPINION.

WHAT OTHER WRITERS ARE SAYING. NEW HOPE FOR BRITAIN. It is reported that Air Winston Churchill was loudly cheered on rising to announce his Budget. If the cabled synopsis of that long-awaited pro- i nouncement is any guide, tha Chancel- j lor of the Exchequer deserved a- furor’ ! when lie sat down. The outstanding i proposals are published in another coj- ! unin. They are only what might have I been expected from an Administration ! directed by the statesman who made j that memorable appeal for a better un- < derstanding betweu Capital and Labour and the jettisoning of the ever-present j suspicion which was poisoning politics ! at home and abroad. Air Stanley Baldwin was a big figure before L- thus ! opened his hearts lie is immea -.ably j bigger to-day. AVhat will impress the j world at large is that the British Prime j Minister, unlike many of liis predeces- ' sors, does not stop short at enunciating worthy principles: lie is sincere and courageous enough to translate j those principles into practice. It is many a long year since Britain has heard so forthright, broadminded, and encouraging a Budget. Jt is a classic of its kind. and. on paper at least, * brings a new hone to all classes.— “Xe v Zealand Times,” Wellington. MADE IN AMERICA. It is evident from the address of the « British Ambassador in the United States to the Sons of St George, at Phil- . . adelphia. that, like his predecessors, he is worried by a section in America bent on misrepresenting Great Britain | < and criticising all her policies as found- ' ed on “ pure greed and selfishness.” Sir < Esine Howard referred to a statement ! > that Britain had not contributed her ; fair sacrifices in the World War. Such 1 , a statement comes ill from any Amer- j , ican. The war population of the I 1 United States may be taken as 103.- ; ; 000.000. and that of Great Britain and j , Ireland as 46.000,000. That is to say, ! i America had a population two and onefourth times greater than Britain, yet her total casualties in the war were put . at 320,000, while the casualties of Bri- ' tain were officially returned at 2,436,000. j , America”s casualties were thus only one-eighth of those of Britain, despite the fact that her population was more ! than double. Tn actual money Great j Britain contributed more than the United States, and altogether it is dif- ! ficult to understand how an American * can reproach a Britisher on the score j of not contributing a rightful share of i 1 sacrifice.—“ Star,” Auckland. ! e BRITAIN AND THE DOMINIONS, j ' Dr A\ . A. Chappie, a former member ! of the New Zealand House of Represen- * tatives and an ex-member of the Brit- j isli House- of Commons has been telling 4 us, through Australian Press messages. 1 that it would be “fatal to the cause of 1 the Empire” were any attempt made 1 to tax the food of the British people ‘ in the interests of the Dominions. It is ( news to us, and will be probably to i 1 most of Our readers, to learn that" any 1 proposal has yet been made to the Brit- i 1 isli Parliament to place such taxatio n i ' upon the people of Great Britain. The 1 1 most that has been asked for, so far. ' 1 is that, where duties are levied upon ! 1 certain prepared foods, such as dried ! < fruits, etc., and wines, the produce ot i < British Dominions, such produce should 1 Ik> admitted free of duty anti that pre- ! £ ference should be accorded to the Do- » minions to that extent and no more, r Mr Baldwin made the mistake, in go- ! r ing to the country, of seeking a man- j ‘ date not only lor the preference agreed l upon by the Imperial Conference, but- i c for a certain amount of protection to British, industries that were within 1 measurable distance of extinction, because foreign manufactures competing j \ with British articles were being dump- j ] ed into the country considerably under i cost, with the* result that large num- : j bers of people were thrown out of em- j <. plovment and the army of unemployed ! j in Great Britain was assuming unpre- I j eedented and alarming proportions.— “Manawatu Evening Standard-’’ * ; c EBERT'S LEGACY TO HINDENBURG. : f The late Herr Ebert, Germany's first 1 President, left a curious legacy for his j 1 successor—a curious legacy, that is to ! I ! say, for a Socialist to leave a militar- c | ist. Ebert was a member of what in ! s political Germany is known as the Ala- p jority Socialist Party. The events ! k which, in 1918 culminated in the flight i g of the Kaiser and the disappearance u of numerous picturesque thrones p throughout the German Empire have i r been described as the “German Itcvolu- ], tion.” In actual result there was no q revolution. The Monarchy disappeared, ~ certainly, but the machine was left in- . s tact. That. in a word, is Ebert's j legacy to Hindenburg. This is inter- i r; esting. Tlic provisional government j f which in 1918 took over the reins from tthe discredited ATonarohy was a So- ‘ s cialisfc Government. History lias no pro- i « vioue record of such a glittering opportunity for Socialism. After the provisional government came three sue- ‘ eessive Cabinets, not wholly Socialist, under three successive Chancellors, each of whom was a Socialist. AY hen Ebert died there passed from office the . last remaining administrative Socialist. ; the one Socialist in Germany who had most to do with tbe decline of Socialism.— “AVanganui Chronicle.” *** I