NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 164, 5 April 1919, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

Rather too much is taken for granted by Mi:. Edward Hurley in his statement that the United Stater, is potentially the greatest marine Power in the world "because shu possesses, the greatest shipbuilding facilities and ability." Mn. Hurley, who is Chairman of the American Shipping Board, .mentioned that Britain would be able to construct about three million gross tons of shipping in 1919—the ability to do this is, of course, subject, amongst other • things, to labour conditions. No' doubt Mr. Hurley' set against this prospective British output the fact that the United States has developed facilities which should enable her to turn out nearly twice as much shipping this year. America, will havo to do much more, however, than build ships at a record" rate to successfully challenge the present supremacy of the British mercantile marine. That supremacy rests in no small degree upon the garnered experience of.' a nation which has .studied and .learned.- the ways of tho sea. in the great school of necessity. This, of course, docs not mean that the American challenge is to be lightly regarded. Practically all the new tonnage under construction in the United States, an English correspondent in New York pointed out recently, is ocean-carrying. Moreover, "it is Government and not private initiative whicu seeks to wrest in three years from Britain the lead which took three score years to establish." On the other hand, the American enterprise involves somewhat serious risks. "Ton for ton," the same correspondent observes, "American shipping . costs far more than British, and the expense of running American ships is notoriously higher than any others in the world."

* * * * Lvcruasixg interest attaches to late and current reports dealing with internal events in Russia, The possibility appears—it is'only a'possibility meantime—that the' Bolshevik regime which has brought such unspeakable horrors in its train is at last being effectively challenged. Following on the news that Bolshevik forces have been heavily defeated on several fronts, it is now stated that anti-Bolshevik revolts have broken out in Pctrograd and elsewhere. _ While the main issue remains in doubt, fairly convincing evidence is already supplied that the Bolshevik military organisation is on a much smaller scale than sundry cablegrams have alleged. The Red Army of, a million which has been spoken of presumably exibis only in imagination. An apparently well-informed correspondent at Paris,-writing a couple of months ago, stated thatthe Bolshevik main army, on the Middle Volga, consisted of about 117,000 men. At that time this army was in contact with Russian and Czecho-Slovak forces numbering about 70,000. The Kolchak Government at Omsk.(in Western Siberia) claimed, however, to have 200,000 troops, and this force is now said to have opened an offensive. There is no doubt that nonBolshevik elements in Russia are much superior in number and resources, and only need sound organisation to enable them to gain the upper hand.

* * * <* Widespread approval is likely to be given to the proposal, mentioned in one of.to-da-y's cablegrams, that the United States should agree to administer Asiatic Turkey under a mandate from the League of Nations. The Turkish problem will be solved only in part by conferring national identity and security upon the races which inhabit Armenia, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Syria, and ■Palestine. Difficult questions remain in regard to the fate of the .Greek communities established in some of the coastal areas of Asiatic Turkey, and it is plainly necessary also to provide some sort of guardianship for the ten or twelve million Ottoman Turks who will retain the,greater part of Anatolia. These people are not only bankrupt in material and other resources, but arc ill qualified to attempt unaided the task of building up a new na-tional-organisation. An ample proof of their political incapacity appears in their tamo submission to-the corrupt oligarchy which was only overthrown,.by military defeat. It is not more evident that the Turks need guardianship than that the United' States is well placed to supply the need and that it is desirable on all grounds that she. should do so. In reference- to the Eastern question, as well as to other aspects of the peace settlement, emphasis has been laid upon the confidence reposed in America by other nations, - including (hose lately joined with Germany. This no doubt is an important factor, .and it counts for something also that to the end she abstained from declaring war on Turkey. It is of greater moment, however, that, in accepting the guardianship of Asiatic Turkey tlio American Government and people, would convincingly demonstrate that they are prepared themselves to undertake external duties and responsibilities in the interests of world peace, and not merely to dictate the conditions under which such duties and •responsibilities should be taken up by other nations. Agreeing to siipervi.se the political affairs of (he Ottoman Turks, the United Stoles would break more definitely with its out-of-date poliev of isolation than when itciitprcd'thewar. Conversely, if the American Government and iv'ople declined any such responsibility, (lie most ardent lip service qn their part to the League of Nations would count for comparatively little.

_'Tt is still uncertain whether Briti'lii or American airmen will secure Hie honmir of making the first transAtlantic flight, llerently it was reported that in America it was expected that a-British airship would first attempt the crossing, but the latest messages on the subject indicate that in the very near future an

American dirigible will set out upon this great enterprise, while two British airmen, Haavkkr and Giiikvb, are about to attempt the passage by aeroplane. Given reasonable good fortune, particularly in the matter of weather, a dirigible with a cruising radius about twice as great as the distance to be covered should have excellent prospects of Hying the Atlantic. Distinctly greater hazards arc involved in attempting, tho same journey by aeroplane. An American authority observed recently that success or failtire in such a (light would lie dependent upon the most uncertain quantity in the world—the'winds that blow. If, he added, the airman had the winds with him for a period of irom_ twenty-four to thirty hours the crossing would lie easy, safe, and quick, but siich conditions were far from being assured. "The only way, with present-day aeroplanes, in which the crossing might, be made with reasonable safely and reasonable certainty," according to the, same authority, '"'would be to have the Navy string a fleet, like beads, from one coast to the other, to act relay ships in case of need, but this would entail unreasonable expense, f and would be a 'stunt,' not a practical demonstration of the usefulness of aircraft in trans-Atlantic traffic." It is of interest in this . connection that it has been stated authoritatively that the experiment of the trans-Atlantic flight will not be. attempted by the United ' States Post Office Department in the "car future, or with any tyne of aeroplane now known to its experts. Apparently, therefore, the flight to be attempted by Hawker and GttiEVE must be, regarded as a bold adventure with little immediate bearing upon the development of the, aeroplane as a mail-carrying and commercial vehicle.