LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 460, 18 June 1937, Page 2

LONDON LETTER

SUBMARINE POWER Thousands Of Refugees 1 London, May 21. The news. tl:/. t Italy is building 20 new submarines, which will give her the world’s largest undersea fleet, is regarded, by some British experts as a sign the.t Mussolini is icon.tenit for his country to remain a secondary naval power. The deduction sounds paradoxical, but it is interesting. The argument is that the submarine is essentially the weapon of a navy weak in surface ships. Submarines pan operate Kilngly, whereas a surface fleet must be strong in numbers if it is to hold its own. Everyone remembers the havoc wrougl’Jt. and the, still -greater fear inspired by German submarines during the Great War. Yet it has since been revealed that there were never more than 20 to 30 operating at any on time. Against them Britain had more than 3000 armed surface vessels of various kinds, but these were only partially successful in pombating the submarine menace. By the end of this year Italy will have 100 modern submarines. Their potential effect may be guessed- at in recalling what Germany did with her much smaller fleet. Moreover, Italy s submarines are .presumably intended for in the Mediterranean. The limited number of roultes .there will make it much more difficult for ships to dodge submarines than was the case in the Atlantic timing the last war. In any future war, also, air reconnaissance will help .the submarine -to find its quarry. The Banned Air Race. Owners and pilots of more than 20 aeroplanes stand l to suffer heiavy financial losses by President Roosevelt's ban on the proposed air race across the North Atlantic. In, some cases special aeroplanes were being built for the contest fcnd the services of crack pilots had been reserved at big fees. Altogether tens of thousands of pounlls will have gone “down the drain’’ unless sbme way is.- found to ewiiding the President's ban.

Those who have been put to this I heavy expense are now talking , suing the French Government for I damages. It was the French Air Ministry which prompted/ 1:14-3 race i and put up the £30,000 prize money. Nothing can be claimed from Ameri- , ca, for Mr. Roosevelt is merely en- ' forcing U.S. air regulations by pro- : hibiting what he regards as a “use- I less waste of life” in an Atlanltic race. But those who have spent to much money on preparations iTUlieve ’ that they can recover their losses from the French Government, which I ’ is to blame for not having secured America’s permission before promot- I ing the dace. The Refugee Invasion, The 4000 Basque children who land- ; ed in England this week are the largest batch of refugees which Britain has received {since- the (VstH War. Ju those days 200,000 Belgians found refuge here. Every revolution - Lnd political upheaval in Europe since 1918 has turned loose hosts o i exiles, but comparatively few of them have come to England. This is pafltly because living in England has long been more expensive 'than in most other countries, and the majority of refugees were almost destitute. Most of BriJain’s post-war refugees have been German Jews. Some were rich men who ' managed to smuggle out enough money to live on. Ths poorer refugees from all countries have mostly gone to France, where living is cheap. The Army Looking up. One result of the impressive military pageantry lat the Coronation will certainly be an influx of new recruits to the Army. Even before the Coronation (things were beginning to look up. “The Gap,” a full-of-action film with the air defence of London as its theme, is said to have had a sti- ! mulating effect on Reguar Army re- | cruiting. The (territorials have done ! even better. During the past two months they set a new recruiting re- . •cord by enrolling more than 13,000 | new men. One no longer hears now . the 'talk of conscription being inevi- | table if an ladequats army is to be ' kept in being. England’s Goat’s. There are now over 1000 register- , ed breeders of pedigree goats in this : tcountry. No one has ever tried to 1

’ :<ake a census of the numbecr of j'goats, but the latest tentative es-ti-I mate is 2,500,000 Des|>ite tlhe growling popularity of the goat, ijt* will be la very long time befote 7the country approaches India’s estimatedJtotal of 10.000,000—0 r even Tuj'key's 9,000,- > 000. ’ , 1 The Interfering Spaniard. I> spite Hitler's cersorship, newt from Spain manages to filter into Germany. The following little story now going the rounds of Ithe Berlin cafes shows whltt the man-in-the-ttreet thinks of it: Question: What’s the laC.est news from Spain? Answer: A big battle near Madrid. Eire thousand Germans, 3000 Italians and one Spaniard killed. To which the retort is: Serves himseif right. Why does he wanlt to get himself niived up in olher people’s. affairs?