OVERSEAS OPINIONS

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 154, 25 March 1939, Page 1 (Supplement)

OVERSEAS OPINIONS

Back to the League? •‘Peace is admitted to be essential for the happiness of the world. But it must be peace, based on truth and justice. That is our international creed for which we have contended and will contend with all our strength. Latterly we have heard much of appeasement. On its face all must favour it. But what if it fails; if the aggressor is not appeased save by total surrender? Sooner or later the limit to surrender tolerable for a great and self-respecting nation is reached, and what then? Hie appeasers have no power unless it be a return to the League of Nations —if it still exists. Far better to have begun with the League. Even now, if the British and French Governments would abandon this policy of week-ends with dictators and return to the orderly discussions at Geneva, backed by collective security, the peace of the world might be saved.”

President and Congress. “Every American is aware of the peaceful intentions of the Government. The people know we have no thought of aggression and no desire for further territory. Nevertheless, as executive head of the Government, I am compelled to look facts in the face. We have a splendid asset in the quality of our manhood, but without modern weapons, without adequate training, the men. however splendid the type, would be hopelessly handicapped if we were attacked. The young men of the natior should not be compelled to take the field with antiquated weapons. It would be economically unsound to provide in peace-time for all the moderu equipment needed in a war emergency, but it would be nationally unsound not to provide for critical items of equipment which might be needed immediately, and not to provide facilities for mass production in the event of war. Devoid of all hysteria, this programme Is but the minimum of requirements. I trust, therefore, that Congress will quickly act on this emergency programme for strengthening the defence of the United States.” —President Roosevelt.

The Time Factor. /. “America is not much more ready,” comments the “Western Mail,” “for an emergency today than she was when she entered the war in 191". Conditions have changed greatly since that year, and in every respect they have tended to increase the risks of unpreparedness, and to emphasize the probability that the early stages of another conflict would be the period of most intense attack. There will be fewer opportunities of recovering ground lost in that stage, or of repairing defects in the defence once the struggle has begun. Nearly everything depends on a democracy’s capacity to repel a deadly onslaught right at the outset. Time is thus a more vital factor than ever, and preparedness is no longer a condition up to which one can build defence resources after the outbreak of hostilities, but a condition that must be attained and firmly established before a shot is fired.”

Mr. Chamberlain's Ideal. “Rejecting the view that war is inevitable and that our only task is<to prepare for it, I have consistently sought to remove the possible causes of war, and, by direct consultation and discussion, to secure a new and fuller measure of confidence and understanding between the nations. It is my hope and aim that, by this means, the international problems of our time may be settled in a spirit of conciliation and co-operation. I have never persuaded myself that this was an easy task. I knew, from the outset, that the journey would be long and arduous, and that we should meet with difficulties and disappointments. We have met with difficulties and disappointments, but, at the same time, we have met with successes, which are not only an encouragement to renewed effort, but are also,, in themselves, notable contributions to the betterment of international relations. We are today in a position, should the need arise, to discharge our obligations to our allies, the ' Empire, and ourselves.”—Mr. Neville Chamberlain.

No Need For Despair. “There is no need to take a despondent, still less a despairing, view of the situation,” writes Mr. J. B. Firth in the “Daily Telegraph,” “provided only that the democracies have learnt their lesson from the events of last year, which is that they cannot drive away the Devil, like Luther at Warburg, by throwing inkpots at him. That only leaves a nasty mess on the wall, and the wily adversary soon returns. Tiie British people have watched the Axis at work, operating by massive displays of solid, force much more imposing than the old rattling of sabres. Adept in the arts of bluffing, it utilises to the full the psychological power of an unscrupulous propaganda.. It seeks to undermine the morale of its prospective victim by representing itself as the only possible saviour against the insidious attacks of Communism. Democracy, too, often forgets that it has to wage its war on two fronts, against both Fascism and Communism, and that the victory of either would equally involve the total loss of that individual liberty and freedom of thought and action which alone make life worth living to the free man.” The Outlook.

“The New Year, will have few fears for the democracies if they can realize the true nature of their inheritance, says the “Manchester Guardian.” “One of the best things which came out of the crisis was the sudden concern over suspected attempts to restrict our liberties to say and write what we believe to lie true. But there came more than that Democracy faced a sudden challenge, which has not disappeared, and which is healthy in its effects. In letters to the Press and in private minds there has been a turning bark. to tne principles and beliefs upon which our liberties are founded, and which are our justification for holding to them. That is to discover the deeper unity, more important far than what is mere political expediency, which will be the great and inexhaustible reserve Oi strength in any challenge that may come. There are still those who are fascinated by the ruthless successes gained by the dictatorships, and think, in moments of desponden -y. that we must imitate their systems if we are to attain a like efficiency. This would be to sacrifice the very beliefs which give us all our power, to empty out the treasure and then defend the safe. In this year, as in those which follow, we are acting in the spirit of two thousand years of history.”

Vital Months Ahead. “The next few months,” says the “Scotsman.” “specially if they see the end of the war in Spain, may be even more fateful than August and September of last year. It has been forecast for some time that Germany’s economic and financial troubles will come to a head in the spring of this year. Italy’s situation canont be less embarrassing, and it is a common opinion, justified by experience, that dictators seek relief from domestic worries by foreign adventures. When we include with this desire to escape from internal difficulties, Imperialist ambitious and a firm belief in the invincibility of their armed forces, one can see the influences urging Itajy and Germany to a gamble with death and destruction. It may be that reason will prevail over animal instinct, but it looks as if all the resources of diplomacy, coupled with Mr. Chamberlain’s resolute insistence on appeasement, will be needed to bring Europe safely and peacefully through the next few months.”

Germany’s Trade. “Although Germany bolds the dominant position in the foreign trade of the countries of South-Eastern Europe, its importance to her is, nevertheless, sometimes exaggerated.” says the Berlin Correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian.” “Enjoying a semi-mono-poly there as she does, Germany takes only 13 per cent, of her imports in food and raw materials from there, and experts here believe it will be difficult for the Reich greatly to increase the amounts in the immediate future at least. Even supplemented by the countries of South-Eastern Europe, who are enmeshed in her barter and currency control trade agreements, Germany could not become fully self-sufficing. Last year over 75 per cent, of her imports came from outside South-Eastern Europe, 44 per cent, of them being from overseas lands.” The Making of Books.

“Formerly there were two publishing seasons, spring and autumn,” says the “Scotsman,” “but nowadays the stream of books flows all the year round, falling to a gentle trickle at the height of the holiday period, but never quite drying up. The annual output is formidable enough to give apparent cause for the perennial complaint that too many books are being produced, that quality is being sacrificed to quantity. There might be some point in the murmurs of the fastidious if it necessarily followed that anything printed in book form should be conceived as literature and designed for posterity. But the majority of writers are less ambitious: they aim frankly at providing entertainment or gratifying the public's desire for instruction on topical questions. In serious fiction there is a marked tendency to place the emphasis on the social environment, and to portray characters as members of a class or group rather than as isolated individuals. This social realism is not so new as is sometimes assumed, and it does not always yield happy results, particularly in the so-called proletarian novels which may have the merits of good reporting, but which are often crude and superficial.”

The United States Barometer. "The influence of the United States on international trade and world business psychology is, for the moment, favourable,” says the “Economist.” “American recovery, however, is not having as strong an effect on international commodity prices as American collapse had in 1937. Commodity prices, in .fact, have pursued a disappointing course in recent months. This suggests that the disequilibrium in the world markets goes rather deeper than its purely American aspect. If so, it would be rash to look for any sustained increase in British exports, specially as we shall soon be feeling the effect of the measures taken by a number of countries to restore the equilibrium of their balance of payments. On balance, therefore, the effect of external factors does not seem likely to be very strongly favourable, unless the further progress of American recovery pushes commodity prices upward. For the next few months at least, any upward influence exerted by external factors will probably be too weak to offset the downward trend of the domestic factors.”

Inequitable Competition. “Although we still maintain our share of world trade, we cannot ignore the existence of practices new to tlie conduct of international commercial affairs, which distort normal economic channels of trade and may eventually ■inflict lasting damage upon our export industries,” said Mr. Qolin F. Campbell, at the National Provincial Bank annual meeting. “In times of difficulty, like the present, there may be a disposition to over-rate the permanence of what appears to us to be inequitable competition. Subsidizing exports can only in the long run impoverish the nation pursuing such a policy, and there is also evidence that some countries which have entered into bulk export and import bargains are finding actual business much less attractive than seemed likely to be the ease. None the less, although there is some reason to think that inequitable and subsidized competition is not likely to be permanent, we must, in view of the paramount importance of our export trade, be prepared by concerted action of industries concerned, together with Government support, to meet such competition, and it is satisfactory to know that discussions have already taken place with ibis end in view.”

Britain’s Food in Wartime. “'The dark cloud of war is over the land. At any moment it may burst and sow death and destruction upon us. If it comes, which God forbid, the most vital problem of defence will be how to keep our people fed until the war ends. Last time, with command of the seas and the world’s resources available, we succeeded, but only by rationing. Submarine sinkings were counteracted in time to escape famine. And famine would have meant defeat and surrender. At present, taking all foodstuffs together, we produce less than one-half of what we consume, and are dependent for the rest on supplies from over the seas. Stop these or any considerable proportion of them, and we starve. Evon today a vast number of cur population get lo<s food than is necessary for health, and our position is less secure than in 1018.”—Mr. 11. G. Chancellor in the “Contemporary Review.”