HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE,

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17978, 25 March 1930, Page 6

HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE,

'{By “Gleaner.”)] -'! MODERN CHINESE JDSTICEL Magistrate Yang has given a taste of what Chinese jurisdiction will be like. His uncalled for and ignorant attack on a British barrister in the Shanghai Court may lead to an incident. If he is strong in London, Mr Henderson has not been strong in China, signing away by a secret treaty rights and liberties of British subjects. Unfortunately he followed the pre r cedents laid down by Sir Austen Chamberlain, in 1926, in the famous “scuttle" declaration of policy. ***•'- SILVER. The fall of silver, it has touched Is 6d per line ounce, brings the metal to the lowest level recorded since price records have been kept. The fall is the natural result of the many years’ disorder in China, and the collapse of the consumptive capacity of the country. The Nanking Government proposes to establish a gold exchange, and adopt a gold currency, and to place an embargo upon the import of silver. The proposed gold standard rate of one gold Customs tael equals 0.40 U.S.A. dollar, 19.7265 British pence, and onethird of the present silver tael. If adopted, the new 7 rate will be equivalent to an Increase of about 5 pep cent, in the Chinese' Customs tariff, * * * * VON TIRPITZ. 1 The death of Grand Admiral von Tirpitz removes the principal figure on the German side in the long naval rivalry of Britain nad Germany. For nearly 20 years he was Secretary for the Navy, in which position he attained a skill in political intrigue almost unexampled in Germany. Von Holstein, the “old fox" of the Foreign Office, soon came to terms with Tirpitz, as he quickly realised that he had met his master. Tirpitz owed his power to Wilhelm 11., upon whose vanity and jealousy of Edward VII. he knew how to play. But the Grand Fleet the Kaiser wanted for his own glorification Tirpitz wanted for practical use. It was when he was commanding the German China Squadron that Kiaochow was ceded to Germany. Von Tirpitz thought the place unsuitable, and obtained the insertion in the treaty of cession that it might be exchanged for a port in the south. It never was exchanged, because of Krupp’s belief that Iviaochow and the Shantung area contained valuable minerals. Immense sums were literally sunk in mines, hut the return has been negligible. =* * # * THE RUSSIAN MOUJIK. The cables report a new attempt by the Soviet to “collective" agriculture in Russia, and many thousands of peasants are said to be arriving at the frontier seeking a refuge abroad. The new movement was announced on January 21, the birthday of the late lamented Mr Lenin. It is part of the five years’ industrial programme of Mr Stalin, and a return to the agrarian policy of the Revolution.. No one exactly knows how many people there are in Rusia, but the peasants are most of them. Being the backbone of the country. Communism, collectivism, or whatever you like to call it, can only be successful if extended to , agriculture. Hitherto all efforts to collectivise the land have failed. Stalin has now declared war to obtain success. All peasant proprietors ' are to be dispossessed. The obstinate moujik is to be expropriated. A moujik is a peasant, who owns three cows or their .equivalent. Stalin’s object is to develop cooperative farming and the use of agricultural machinery made in Russia. He intends to rationalise agriculture, and in./ Russia or elsewhere, ask Sir Hugo Hirst or Sir Arthur Duckham, or refer to Sir Oswald Moseley’s report to the House of Commons on January 21, rationalisation must mean unemployment. The peasant flight to the frontier means war to the death between peasant and Soviet. If the Soviet loses it must mean the death of Communism in Russia. * * 9 * THE YOUNG CARDINAL. There was no more romantic figure in the Court of Rome than Cardinal Raphael Merry del Val, whose death was recently reported. Like his brother, the Marquis, he was born in London at the time when his father was Secretary of Embassy there, and though educated in England, holidays were spent at European capitals, where the father developed his diplomatic career, which terminated at the Embassies at Vienna and Rome. It was when his father was Ambassador at Rome that Raphael entered the Church, of which he was destined soon to become one of the Princes. He was only 32 when he became Apostolic Delegate in Canada. At 34 he was an Archbishop and President of the Pontificial Academy. Four years later Leo XIII. appointed him Secretary of the Consistory. A few weeks later Leo died. His successor, Pius X., astonished the world by appointing Merry del Val as Pontificial Secretary of State, and creating him a Cardinal, at the age of 38. The appointment naturally was more than a nine days’ wonder, not only in the Church but in the diplomatic world. The Cardinal-Secretary of State, a diplomat by heredity, became the centre of political intrigue. It was the first time a Spaniard had held the office. When Pius died, in 1914, according to custom the Cardinal-Secre-tary of State resigned to his successor, Benedictus XV. Meanwhile, however, at the election he had on the early ballots, according to rumour, been a prominent candidate, but was unacceptable to Austria. He was appointed Cardinal-Priest of the Vatican Basilica and Secretary of the Holy Office. It was a safe position, where there was no scope for the daring diplomacy of the young Cardinal. Benedictus XV. had no taste for adventure in politics. Cardinal Merry del Val's great contribution to Papal statecraft was the active revival of the Papal claims, which Cardinal Gasparri last, year brought to a successful issue. The Cardinal was known in Rome for many years as “the young Cardinal" and tile “handsome Cardinal." He was indeed extraordinarily handsome. It was an aunt of his, a worldly Condesa, who said: “Rafael is far too handsome to be married to the Church." Among his many other merits was that he had the London Times posted to him and read it carefully every day,