Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1920.

Hokitika Guardian, 15 October 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1920.

SPITZBERGEN. Among the handbooks prepared lw the Foreign Office during the war to facilitate the work of the Peace Conference one devoted to Spitsbergen has a par i tjculnr interest, because it shows that doctrines of international law which had apparently ceased to possess any save 1 an academic importance may still have a practical application. Various international disputes last century turned on the title acquired over territory by discovery, annexation and settlement. The claimants called historical evidence on these points, and the awards were based thereon. But with the world parcelled out it seemed as if never again could there bo occasion for the determination of a dispute on these prin- ( ciples. What “no-man’s land” remained on which the juristic theories of “occupation” and effective possession could operate? True, the Arctic and Antarctic continents had not been an- • nexed, but the former, being merely a floating sheet of ice, was incapable of annexation, while the latter hold out no attractions to even the most- landhungry Power. Spitsbergen, a group of islands on the Arctic Circle, with an area somewhat less than that of Scotland, was another “res nullius” with re. j gard to which no question seemed likely to arise, for of what conceivable , value could this inhospitable archipelago ever bo to anyone? Yet of recent years Spitsbergen has come within the sphere of international rivalries in the settlement of which any international tribunal must be guided by the same considerations as those which governed the awards in the Oregon, or Venezuelan boundary disputes Spitz- j bergen lias been known ever since the 16th. century. The British annexed it in 1617 and since then the nationals of j various countries have fished and traprH in t-hf group. But no settlement of any kind was attempted; there was no inducement for it. However, towards the end of last century large deposits of easily-worked coal were discovered and exploited by private companies, British, American, and Scandinavian while German capital was represented. During the war the stoppage of supplies from Britain stimulated the development of the industry in the Scandinavian mines, and the question of devising some form of con- 1 trol for Spitzbergen has assumed grea- ’ ter importance. The principle is accepted that the islands should remain “terra nullius” and should be administered by an international commission under a convention to that effect between the countries concerned. Who are these? What is the nature of the acts which will entitle a Power to a place in that board of control? The inquiry . will involve reference to the compila- j ti]ons oif Hakluyt and Pnrclias, the , log-books of captains of half a dozen j nationalities and the oral traditions handed down centuries ago by nameless ( hunters. ,

sanity of the people. There: is no doubt us to the loyalty of the people in the g bulk. A very widespread demonstration 1 of that was made at the time of the" I visit of the Prince pf Wales, and events which have occurred since have tended only to heighten those greetings. The | Government know they have the slip- c port of the people- Naturally they f have ways and means of noting the swing of events which are not available to the distant onlooker,"and the Government must feel that acting on j * right lines within the law they may { Enforce the law to the fullest—the j people will uphold the action. It ra- j ‘ ther magnifies the position out of pro- | portion to form these Loyalty Leagues. I It is a challenge also—not that the | challenge is likely to be taken up—but < the civic position is so strong in New 1 Zealand, that irresponsible action, as 1 it ' were, is not called for. What is re- 1 quired is that the Government should deal firmly and at once with public ex- 1 pressions of disloyalty or with any action tending to' affect tlic public weal. If a strong and definite line of action were taken in that way the position would retrieve itself quickly and loyal- , ty Leagues would find their occupation gone, before there was a call for arty attempt at an outward public demonstration. • In Australia, where perhaps the nation- | al situation is not as clarified as in New Zealand, we notice that the subject just referred to has been taken J up in another way,'which is rather a variation of the Dominion method. Ac- ‘ cording to a Sydney paper, Mr B. R. Gelling delivered an address before members of the Chamber of Manufae- j tures recently on the object and meth- j ods of the League of Good Citizenship ( He read extracts from the leaflets is- j sued by the League, in the course of j which h e said the aim of the' league . was to awken and foster a livelier sense of the genuine solidarity of interest which underlies the fact of citizenship or membership of th e community. It sought the co-operation of everyone who recognises the common bond of j unity to whatever party, section or | class hq may belong. The league must inevitably have its militant side. To cultivate the attitude of good citizenship involves hostility to all such doctrines of anarchy which cut at the j very roots of national life. Referring to the relations of employer and employee, he said that every man who t makes an unfair profit from the needs * of his fellow-citizens, who allows an employee to leave smarting under the s knowledge that he has been unfairly treated, should be classed and treatt ed as an enemy of the community. The league knows that such employers ex- ' ist, but it does not believe them to be representative. Turning to extrem--3 ists of another type, Mr Gelling asserted that revolution never worked aught 1 but ruin and misery to any people. A hasty leap at the millenium was like- , ly to send the whole body of society crashing down, the bill, necessitating the painful climb again from barbarism 1 to civilisation. The need for gold citizenship carries with it the obligation 1 for active citizenship. It is too often apparent that the people do not take enough interest Jn their own public affairs. Their neglect or laziness often operates adversely, and there are times \vlieni 'the opportunity they miss is * seized by others whose mission is to. . destroy rather than to build up. In > local and general polities there is need * for a quickening interest all over the ; country, and if a league of good citi- [ zenship could help towards the end s which is so desirably then it will be a , good thing for any community. For this reason the Australian movement has much to commend itself and consummated would create an atmosphere of loyalty which would do away with the need for loyalty league.