Evening Star Newspaper, September 29, 1935, Page 51

Editorial Page Part 2—10 Pages TWO EMINENT CANADIANS BATTLE FOR LEADERSHIP Bennett and King, Both Successful in Politics, Fighting Bitterly to Take Helm of Government. (ORONTO. — Richard Bedford Bennett, prime minister of a Conservative government, now dissolved after five years in office, and William Lyon Mackenzie King, who heads his majesty’s loyal opposition in the House of Commons and the Liberal party at large, are now engaged in bitterly battling each other for victory in the Federal election which takes place next October 14. Both have lived true to the Alger formula, which requires many diffi- culties to be overcome before success can be won. They were both boy prodegies whose early promise was not dimmed by brain fever or parental adulation. ‘They look a lot alike, being rotund ©of person and face, of approximately the same height, weight and baldness and unable to rely on belts alone to keep up their trousers. Somewhat sedentary in habits, they are gifted ‘with hardy constitutions and uncom- mon endurance. Both are splendid speakers and sound quite alike if heard over the radio; neither gets into the full swing of his oratorical effort much under an hour. Both in their 60s, they are each becoming more polished and urbane, their witticisms more mellow and their verbal darts less barbed. They Admire the Scriptures, They are both bachelors and de- lightful hosts, at the same time dis- couraging gossips with the very im- partiality of their invitation lists. Both have led their parties in victory and defeat, exchanging the chairs of prime minister and opposition leader. ‘They have traveled and read widely, have joined in Downing street con- ferences on the affairs of the British Empire and have associated with leaders in all walks of life. They ad- mire the Scriptures and quote them without fear of contradiction and have strongly religious leanings, Mr. Bennett toward Methodism in what is now the United Church of Canada, and Mr. King toward the Presbyte- rianism of his covenating ancestors. ‘They rival each other in their beliefs that Canada is the greatest country in the world, though differing strongly will established a trust fund with his widow as one of the trustees, to oper- ate for 10 years, at the end of which period Mrs. Eddy was to inherit five- eighths of the estate. Thus, in 1916, she gained controlling interest in one of Canada's leading industries. Harry Shirefl was general manager of the plant. Old acquaintances had been renewed when Mr. Bennett came to Ottawa and he became legal adviser to the family. When the former Jen- nie Shireff died she bequeathed 1,007 of the highly valuable shares to her brother and 500 shares to “my friend for 30 years.” Harry Shireff died in the same year Mr. Bennett became Conservative leader and his holdings were willed to Mr. Bennett also. Rea- sonable estimates of the value of the fortune inherited are set at a mini- mum of $6,000,000. on him the highest office within their power in 1930 when he became prime minister. Two sentences spoken in answer to somewhat cynical question- ing across the floor of the House of Commons qualified his fitness to rep- resent Canada at the ensuing imperial time of effort for the British Empire, which consists primarily of regard for Canada.” And again: “I think I have & record which will yield to that of no honorable gentleman opposite in my love and devotion to that empire, but I would indeed be a poor Britisher if I were not & Canadian first.” Has Genius for Friendship. Of the sincerity of these words he gave ample proof at trade conferences in 1930 and 1932, when he proved himself a clever trader in competition with British leaders. Although he does not wear his heart | on his sleeve, Mr. Bennett conceals be- neath his brusque, seemingly intolerant manner, & genius for friendship and for concealed kindnesses. His politi- cal philosophy swings to the left, where he joins Winston Churchill among the ranks of Tory democracy. Behind his reserved “facade” he has a strong streak of sentiment; his pri- vate car is named Mildred, after his sister, who is the wife of William D. Herridge, Canada’s Minister to Wash- as to how best to keep her in that ington; until death intervened he ‘The Canadian electorate bestowed | conference: “Behind me I have a life- | EDITORTAL SECTION he Sunday St WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 29, 1935, WS . mnm o PAGGEMIEID PARADOX AND SHAM Note—Forest Dale Ward, author of the following article, is an eco- nomic and political analyst who has been commissioned by Amer- UNCLE SAM TURNS TO POLITICAL CRYSTAL GAZING. of all political faiths. What I found Questions create issues and there |to be the prevailing condition of the are more questions floating among | public mind can be stated in one the people in all walks of life than word—confusion. I have never be(ore}there have ever been in any pre- | questions in the order of their im- Political Tides Run Strong Survey of U. S. Shows State of Turmoil—People Everywhere Are Creating Issues by Questions. | portance as I found them are the Special Ar BY FRANK H. SIMONDS. O SINGLE detail in the whole Ethiopian affair is at once more interesting and more significant than the fashion in which the quarrel suddenly became a direct issue between Great Britain and Italy. Nominally all the mem- bers of the League of Nations were equally concerned with preventing an action which violated the Covenant. Actually, only Great Britain was tak- | ing any steps to make League opposi- | tion effective. On the one hand | Geneva was deliberating on the ques- tion of what sanctions—probably eco- nomic—the League would take if Italy | precipitated a war in East Africa. On the other Great Britain was| hurrying ships and troops to the| Mediterranean as if an Anglo-Italian | war was imminent. Why were the British so worked up? For two quite obvious reasons, one domestic and the other foreign As to the former, the present National government will go before the people not later than next Spring and, as a | consequence of the still recent plebi- | scite in which 11,000,000 Britons voted | | for the League, it finds itself obliged to take a course which will not lose it the support of these millions. As to the latter, the eventual if not the im- mediate implications for British im- perial interests of an Italian conquest of Ethiopia have begun to impress sections of public opmions not noted for their respect for Geneva. Made Issue Personal. Pushed on alike by the pacifists and by the imperialists the British gov- | ernment has step by step made the Ethiopian issue personal. It was plain from the start that no other | | considerable country would. Japan, | Germany and the United States were | |mot in the League and were resolved | to keep out of the African mess. | France was desperateiy anxious to do | nothing to offend Italy and wholly | ready to dismiss the affair as a purely colonial enterprise. As for the Soviet Union, it could do nothing but pro- nounce noble sentiments and h#d no | Constitution, national finances and | taxation, wealth destruction, artificial desire to do more. | Had the British behaved in the lEthlophn affair as they did in the | ticles Regards Italy in Ethiopia as Threat to Colonial Empire and See Possible Inspiration to Germany. seventy millions of whites dominate the fortunes of more than four hun dred millions of various colored races. They acquired all this estate by con- quest and this business of annexation has been going on uninterruptedly for more than three centuries. As late as the World War they took advane tage of their victory to take all the best of the German colonies. When the Japanese seized Manchuria they were not concerned with the moral aspects of the case, plain as these were, because Manchuria was a field without interest for them and with- out threat to their Asiatic posses- slons. Pushing Into British Domain. But Ethiopia was a horse of another color. It was another enterprise as unwelcome as San Stefano or Fashoda. Italy was not merely breaking the law and transgressing the moral code, | she was also arrogantly pushing her- | self into a region which the British regarded as peculiarly their own. And that, in the British idiom, was a bit thick. But Americans ought to see where all this sort of thing leads. It amounts to the assertion by the British that no country shall under- take to expand in any region where | such expansion might even remotely injure British interests. Exactly the same attitude marks British policy in Europe. If Germany should choose to take the Polish | Corridor, there would be no English objection. In fact, London has again and again urged Polish submission to German desires. If Germany took Austria there would be no effective protest across the Channel. If Ger- many sought to disturb the status quo in the Rhineland, however, that would mean war, because, as Baldwin has said, the Rhine had become the British frontier now that aircraft have become a dominant detail of war. But it must be plain that ag- gression is aggression, whether it hap- pens on the Vistula, the Danube or the Rhine, and if the British are not prepared to oppose it everywhere the: have no right to pose as the cham- pions of law and order and justice when, in fact, they are only lookin out for their own interests, quit found such a state of mental turmoil | campaign period of my life. By far business and agricultural stimulants, | Manchurian, Italy would have been | % 5 of business planning, to make a |85 Dow exists in the minds of | e et il ot setiond being | the Supreme Court, a revival of the | able to g ahead fust as Japan did. | PYOPErly but by no means disinte: strictly non-partisan survey of pre- |People in almost every part of the asked in all parts of the country con- |N. R. A, States’ rights, national de-| Then the British pacifists were e convention and pre-election senti- |country. Yet, out of this confusion cern President Roosevelt personally,|fense and foreign trade. The list against war at all costs and the Doesn’t Want Italy in Ethiopia. ment in the United States in every |Can be seen the formation of the|the New Deal as a unit, and unem- could be made much longer but these British imperialists were equally op- poddon. { traveled between 5,000 and 6,000 miles| ican business men, for the purpose Both have politics in their blood, | every Chris the opposing ones of the partles they | pymeif to serve Canada, there is noth- lead, formed by life-long study and| ing he would like better than to be practice, influenced by the divergence of their careers from boyhood days and by inherent characteristic dif- ferences. Differ About Oatmeal. The paths of Mr. Bennett and Mr. King have followed in attaining their present eminence in the public life of Canada often come close together, then swing far apart again. They differ in matters of more import than oatmeal porridge, which Mr. Bennett abhors, but which soothes the palate of a man with Lyon Mackenzie in his name and ancestry. Son of a well-to-do shipbuilder, whose ancestors came to New Bruns- wick from New England with the United Empire Loyalists, Richard Bed- ford Bennett, the youth, became a school teacher. Then his propensity for argument led him into law and stump speeches. By 1897 he had a | comfortable income. - But greater op- portunity beckoned in the boomin West and Mr. Benfett, at the age of | 27, accepted an offer from Senator James Lougheed to become his part- ner in Calgary, Alberta, where he still | has his law office. Only a year later he was in the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest ‘Territories, soon became a King’s counsel, badge of outstanding legal ability. Ottawa saw him first in 1911 at the conclusion of a whirlwind elec- tion campaign which earned him the name of “Bonfire” Bennett. In the House of Commons he first attracted wide attention as more than the “boy orator from Calgary” when he fought his own Conservative party on the question of subsidies to the Canadian Northern Railway. When a further guaranty of bonds to the railway of Mackenzie & Mann had been ap- proved by his leader, Sir Robert Bor- den, Mr. Bennett roundly attacked the proposition and individuals asso- ciated with the railway. Well remembered in parliamentary annals is his famous clash with Ar- thur Meighen, now leader of the Ca- nadian Senate, at the same time. Mr. Bennett stood unflinching against the jeers of his own party members, mnay of whom never forgot or for- gave his reference to Meighen as “the gramophone of Mackenize & Mann.” Bennett Quits Directorships. When the union government of war days was formed Mr. Bennett did not offer himself for re-election, but went back to the law practice, which took him many times before the Supreme Court and Privy Coun- cil. When Mr. Meighen was called upon to form a government in 1920 he invited Mr. Bennett to become minister of justice. This prospective portfolio was lost in a defeat at the polls in 1921, Re-elected in 1925 and 1926 in Calgary, Mr. Bennett became leader of ‘the federal Conservative party in 1927, Accepting the honor, he made ref-, erence to his wealth as a solemn trust to enable him to serve his country without fear for the future. “For no man may serve you as he should if he has over his shoulder always the shadow of pecuniary obligations and liabilities,” he said. “Such as I have I consecrate with myself to the serv- ice in which I am.” Mr. Bennett thereupon resigned his directorships in many of Canada’s biggest busi- mnesses. Romance colored his acqusition of riches. When he was studying law in New Brunswick, among the friends he made were a sister and & brother, Jennie and Harry Shireffl. They ‘worked together in church and in the temperance lodge. A few years later their ways parted. Miss Shireff went to Brookline, Mass., to train as & nurse; Mr. Bennett to Calgary. In 1894 Jennie Shireff mar- ried Ezra Butler Eddy of Ottaws, pro- prietor and founder of the E. B. Eddy Co., match manufacturers, whose essionally. ‘When Eddy died 12 years later his an English baronet and have & coun- try place in Surrey. When he became seriously ill last Summer expressions of anxiety were as widespread as in England when King George was ill. ‘The continuity of William Lyon Mackenzie King's career has been so marked as to appear guided by des- tiny. From his university days his interest has been in economics and in- dustry with an equally strong interest in serving Canada. History and tra- dition gave him a bent toward both. King Served as Conciliator. His father was a lecturer in consti- tutional law and a constant speaker on political platforms. His mother was the youngest daughter of William Lyon Mackenzie, who led an ill-fated rebellion in Ontario in 1837 and had his printing press tossed into Toronto Bay while he was forced to flee to the United States. School days in Kitch- ner, Ontario, were followed by studies t the University of Toronto and a Ph. D. from Harvard. He became deputy minister of labor in 1906, turn- ing down a Harvard lectureship to do s0, and in that office, under Sir Wil- frid Laurier, served as chairman of several royal commissions on labor and immigration problems; also as government conciliator in numerous industrial disputes. From 1909 until 1911 he was min- ister of labor in the Laurier govern- ment. In that year and again in 1917 his electors turned thumbs down on him. Meanwhile between 1914 and 1917 he had been making a world- wide survey of industrial relations for the Rockefeller Foundation. This job was accepted only on condition that nothing should interfere with his interests in Canadian public affairs and his freedom to participate in them. In 1919, when he was elect- ed leader of the Liberal party after the death of the beloved Laurier, Mrs, Andrew Carnegie offered him one of the principal administrative posts in the Carnegie Foundation; John D. Rockefeller, jr, countered with his bid; both were refused. Mr. King first became prime minister in 1921, Re-elected again in 1926, he was de- feated by Mr. Bennett in 1930 and has been leader of the opposition ever since. Political prophets are prac- tically unanimous in giving him the call as Canada’s next prime minister :iv.er the federal election on October Carries Picture of Mother. His most treasured possession to- day is a little miniature of a delicate Dresden - like white - haired woman which he carries in a leather cover close to his heart. It is the likeness of his mother. It is said his genius les in scent- ing trouble from afar and avoiding it. He is happiest buried in a bluebook and is firmly convinced that liberal- ism in industry is as n as in politics to assist humanity’s advance. Conciliation has always been his pol- icy, at risk of being accused of shilly- shallying and not knowing his own mind from one moment to the next. He is a master of detail and runs beautiful old Laurier House in Otta- presidential election since 1920. In making these studies Mr. Ward has traveled throughout the country systematically interviewing voters of all political parties. He has just returned from a visit to 40 States, and this is the first time any of his reports on the trend of national opinion have been released for pub- lication. BY FOREST DALE WARD. HOSE business men who are able to forejudge the force of public opinion, and who are able to rate the value of that | opinion in terms of influence, are in & position to profit by wise planning. To judge correctly the force of public opinion they must know its drift from conception to crystallization and the economic and psychological reasons therefor. In making a business study of po- litical sentiment it is necessary to cover three angles. First, there is the question of issues—what they will be and why; how they will affect business; which of them will receive unanimous sponsorship; which will be controversial; what their individ- ual chances are of becoming part of our national policy. Second, there is the question of personalities—who is likely to be nominated, elected; which of the candidates is most likely to sustain public confidence; which of them is best suited by ability, experi- ence and temperament to carry out the principles of the governing issues. Third, there is the question of pos- sible economic changes and how they will affect a new national policy, and how a new national policy will affect the possible economic changes. Sentiment in Formative Stage. All these questions cannot be an- swered at the present time, simply be- cause public political sentiment is now only in its formative processes. But we must begin our study from this point. In this first report we can analyze issues and personalities and take a look at President Roosevelt’s chances as they appear in this period when public sentiment is just begin- ning to form its differences. In 1920, when I was first commis- sioned to study the economic signifi- cance of public political sentiment, I was fortunate to have the advices of such eminent students of public opin- ion as the late Senator from Penn- sylvania, Boles Penrose, and the late Representative from North Carolina, Claude Kitchin, Both of these men advised me to go straight to Amer- ica’s first aristocracy, the common people, if I wanted & true picture of public opinion. I found this advice to be invaluable. Swing Through 40 States. The first step in the study of the appreaching campaign was to swing through 40 States and interview a fair cross-section of the voting power basely to regain power. Mr. Bennett would trade with others on a take- it-or-leave-it basis, while Mr. King would rather negotiate and try to go a little further than halfway in mak- ing a deal. He will lead not by uncompromis- ing leadership but by diplomatic com- binations and retaining a balance of power between conflicting interests. He aims to convince, but if he cant appears convinced himself. No matter what the subject, he can always swim into it with confident strokes. Mr. King has a habit of delaying a deci- sion until a crisis develops and relies lines which will mark the political | battlefields in the coming election. If present indications mean anything, we may see the most bitterly fought political battle ever waged on Amer- ican soil. BY GASTON NERVAL. international front for peace. Two motions submitted by gress at the capital of the Mexican Republic. The first one deals with the main- tenance and enforcement of the pres- ent peace machinery of the world as it affects the nations of the Ameri- can continent. The countries repre- sented at the Mexico City conference are prompted, first, not to resort to force for the settlement of their in- ternational differences; second, to automatically declare their neutrality in case of an armed conflict between other countries; and third, to secure as soon as possible the adopt- tion of a permanent peace code for the juridical solution of all interna- tional questions in the Western Hem- isphere. ‘The second motion has to do with the friction resulting from excessive customs duties and other barriers to international trade. The Mexico City conference urges the American gov- ernments not to impose restrictive measures on foreign products which may impair the moral understanding and solidarity of the American family of nations. Comes at Significant Time. ‘The peace resolution . is particularly interesting at this moment because of the war clouds gathering in several regions of the earth. Coming at a time when the leading world powers are endeavoring to preserve the ex- isting instruments of peace, and fol- lowing closely the invocation of the Kellogg-Briand pact by the United States, the Mexico City pledge out- lawing force acquires a special signifi- cance. It aligns the countries of the American continent on the side of peace and international law, and, in the pronouncement.in favor of a per- manent peace code for the New World, carries them a step further in the long and painful march for the organ- lzation of international peace. The author of this resolution being the Mexican undersecretary of foreign affairs, Senor Manuel J. Sierra, it is logical to assume that it is the Sierra peace code, prepared for the Monte- video conference of 1333, that the delegations to-the Mexico City parley had in mind when they recommended the adoption by all the American gov- ernments of & permanent code for the juridical settlement of their differ- ences. As may be recalled, the Sierra peace code was an int:lligent combi- EXICO scores again on the | the Mexican delegation have | just been passed, unanimously, by the | seventh Pan-American Scientific Con- | ployment, in that order. Sectional questions break down the New Deal into parts and there are many strictly local questions which have not yet come into national prominence. Following the above three national MEXICO SCORES AGAIN AS ADVOCATE OF PEACE {Two Motions Passed by Seventh Pan- American Scientific Congress Seek to Promote Amity. the additions necessary to correct their loopholes and prevent their violation in the future. It was a summing up, revised and improved, of the pacifistic attempts made to date, an all-inclu- sive program, co-ordinating and per- agencies which had in the past proved insufficient to preserve peace even among the American republics. Mexico Playing Leading Role. In trying to secure the early and general adoption of this permanent code of peace, as well as in promot- ing a Pan-American declaration against the use of force in interna- tional conflicts at this crucial moment, Mexico is only continuing the leading role she has been playng in such mat- ters during the past few years. Not long ago, commenting on the nine-point declaration of policies of the Mexican foreign minister, we had occasion to review several of the more recent contributions of Mexico to the advancement of peace and interna- tional law, and to stress the fact that some of them showed genuine leader- ship on the part of the southern republic. The Estrada doctrine, for instance, announcing that Mexico no longer would exercise the privilege of ex- tending or withholding recognition of revolutionary governments, but would consider all such governments as au- tomatically recognized upon assuming power, tended to eliminate one of the most troublesome problems in inter- national politics and to avoid the ex- cesses committed in the past, in the use of that privilege, by the stronger nations at the expense of the weaker. The Puig Casauranc proposal for a modernization of the old-fashioned and discredited Monroe doctrine, con- verting it into a continental declara- tion of self-defense, precluding armed intervention even by an American country, was another constructive sug- gestion from the Mexican foreign office. ‘Then came the Sierra peace code, submitted to the Montevideo Confer- ence of American States, and probably the most complete and practical scheme of its kind drafted to this day. ‘The nine-point declaration of foreign policies, of last July, was a compre- hensive summary of the advanced po- sition of Mexico on various vexing problems of international relations, from a strict repudiation of military force, or even diplomatic pressure, to acquire territorial advantages to a restatement of the theory of equality of foreigners with respect to damage produced by civil wars, considering indemnification as & voluntary act not constituting precedent, ‘To this progressive and liberal Mex- ican record in foreign affairs now must be added the two Mexican mo- tions just passed by the Seventh Pan- American Scientific Congress, in sup- port of the existing peace machinery and in defense of the lately much- hampered commercial intercourse among the nations of the Western ‘vanguard for peace. (Coprright, fecting the action of the different | | will fairly represent the public mind | for the purpose of this discussion. Taking them in tha' ordér, let us see what America is thinking. Presi- dent Roosevelt has a huge following which looks upon him as a new Ameri- ican patriot fighting against tremen- dous odds for some indefinable some- thing that will lead us all to a finer economic and social existence. If the average American citizen was as loyal {to his country as these hot Roose- veltians are to their leader, out na- tional patriotism would make the Ethiopian esprit de corps look like mother-in-law Jove. Then there are those who are not s> passionately Rooseveltian, but who rnevertheless feel that he should be given another term as a reward for his courage during the dark ages of 1933. It is crats who will remain loyal simply because of deep-rooted party ¢« mvic- tions, traditions and prejudice: caste in many parts of the country. Many of those who campaigned for | him in 1932 are now violently opposed | to him. Out West they call his follow- |ers the Roosevelt rebels. It is quite evident that the President reached tire peak of his popularity about a year and a half ago. Since that time it has probably receded about 40 per cent. How successful he will be in restoring his popularity depends upon how clearly and definitely he outlines his proposed course of action-and what the opposition does. A considerable number of the voters feel that Mr. Roosevelt will regain much prestige if he will frankly and fully state the ultimate aims of his administration and how he expects to achieve those aims. New Deal a Symbol. Interlocked with the President is the New Deal, but, because so many feel that the New Deal will be what- ever Roosevelt makes of it, the ques- tions concerning it naturally fall into second place. In the minds of the greatest number of people the New Deal is & symbol. People cannot tell exactly what it stands for or what it hopes to achieve. To them it repre- sents either a symbol of progression or a symbol of confusion. Those who take it for good are passionately in favor of it; those who take it for evil are violently opposed to it. Besides the Rooseveltians those who are counted in the New Deal ranks are the liberals of many hues, who say that they have no better place to land, the army of farmers and dole recipients who have dipped into the Government relief pail and like it, laborers who bargain collectively, ap- pointive and elective Democratic office holders of all descriptions with their far-flung job, relief and public works patronage; also those with an anti- Wall Street complex, bank failure losers and those who believe we have finally come face to face with the necessity of & strong central govern- ment. In the opposition group we find those who havé a deep and abiding faith in the power and the sanctity of the Constitution, the proponents of sound money, & balanced budget and prudent taxation, the soldier bonus advocates, the laborers who would rather secure their jobs by honest service than by the alleged machina- tions of professional organizers, the industrialists who feel that they can be honest without Gavernment super- vision, hordes of farmers who believe that they have been short-changed in the farm rellef cxtravaganza and can make s better living if left to their own resources, and, finally, some who call the New Dealers “yellow Americans” for wanting to live off their future generations just so that they may have s few more tax-paid comforts for themselves, It is my opinion that the New Deal has lost more prestige than has the President. Many express the senti- _(Wflrmhm also true that there arc many Demo- | Roosevelt has unquestinoably lost | | posed to any break with Japan which ! might compromise British interests in the Far East. You had the idealists, and the imperialists equally united in | a desire to prevent war. Now, for| | different reasons but with equal de- | termination, these two camps are pre- pared to support war. Period of Jingoism. Beyond all doubt, moreover, the British people are going through one !ot their not unfamiliar periods of | | jingoism. It began with the King’s | | jubilee, when empire spirit was | whipped up to a degree unprece- | | dented in the post-war era. And the | | enterprise of Mussolini provided a |fresh occasion for further stimula- | |tion. Back of this, however, lies a | more serious detail. In the Italian | | adventure in Africa the British im- perialists detect an operation which may easily inspire German imitation. | Already Berlin has put London on | notice that it means to get back its | colonies, taken from it by the treaty of Versailles. Were Mussolini, by force, to win | for his country a colonial estate which at least looks impressive on the map, pressure upon Hitler to push the colonial issue would become ir- resistible. Most of the German colo- nial possessions and all of the best | of them went to the British. The imperialistic camp has not the small- est ‘intention of making any restitu- tion. And taking a strong line with Mussolini seems to it a sure way o!l avoiding further trouble. Also there | is very general resentment of the | fashion in which Il Duce has pro- ceeded without regard to British sen- sibilities. Staked All on League. As for the pacifists, they have staked everything on the League and they have become so completely in- volved in the suppor: of Geneva that they are now quite ready to go to war to prevent war, which is, in itself, the most preposterous of all paradoxes. prevented. But by a war between the League might in some fashion be restored to life and influence. They were ready, therefore to precipitate a prevent a minor conflict! by the majority of mankind as merely a conflict to defend the material and strategic interests of the British Em- pire, none of the British pacifists was able to believe. Yet it soon became evident that to the French, the So- viets and the peoples of the smaller continental countries, this enormous British activity, so different from the passivity in the Manchurian affair, did necessarily aj to have its origin in imperialistic and not ideal- istic sentiments. In Accord With Precedent. backward in history it is plain that the present British per- formance is wholly in accord with precedent. When the Russians by the treaty of San Stefano undertook to control Turkey and thus defeat British resolution to control and close the Bosporus, the Baitish sent a fleet to anchor in the Sea of Marmora. When Marchand marched across Africa and threatened to cut the Cape-to-Cairo line of British imperial expansion, Kitchener was dispatched to Fashoda with a force adequate to overwhelm the FPrench expedition. Now, the Italian program in East Africa has come to have in British eyes something of the same menace that attached to the earlier Russian and French enterprizes. This time, however, the League of Nations pro- vides a convenient cover for a piece ‘War between Italy and Ethiopia, they | presently came to see, was not to be| Britain and Italy they calculated that | major war because they could not | ‘That such a war would be accepted | Great Britain doesn't want Ital in Ethiopia—that is the long anc short of it. And she does not wan Italy there because she sees that Mus- solini might be an uncomfortable neighbor and tne Ethiopian precedent might return to plague her when ‘Germany presses for the return of her colonies. But if through the League the British can get all the member nations to join in coercing the Italians in the name of law and peace, then she will run few risks and incur only slight costs. When Austria dispatched her ultimatum to Serbia in 1914 and followed it by a declara- tion of war and invasion, & dis- tinguished British journalist voiced the sentiment of the bulk of his fellow countrymen in the phrase—“To hell with Serbia.” When, by contrast, the Germans did the same thing in the case of Belgium, Britain went to war on be- half of the rights of small countries and appealed to the conscience of mankind for aid and approval. But Serbia and Belgium were both small countries, equally prospective victims of aggression, and the only difference was that one was near and one far. In a word, it was an earlier version of the Manchurian and Ethiopian epi- sodes. Now, I confess to prfound admiration for the fashion in which the British can persuade themselves and a great part of the public in many other countries that they are acting only for unselfish reasons when they undertake to safeguard their own material interests and that when they g0 to war to assure national security they are actually drawing their sword for international justice. It's a great gift and it is a real gift. Any one who believes the British are deliberate and conscious hypocrites is too stupid to deserve a hearing. But the fact is that British policy is always dictated by a lively concern for British interests and when the idealists take the lead the imperialists, in the American phrase, invariably score an assist on the putout. If the British went to war with Italy over the Ethiopian affair the British them- | selves would believe and call upon every one else to believe that they were drawing their swords to uphold the League, to defend the cause of world peace and to vindicate the principle of democracy challenged by the Fascist heresy. (Copyright, 1935.) Recovery Director Was Orphan At Six NEW YORK—George L. Berry, who is to be the Gen. Johnson of the President’s new recovery drive, was an orphan at 6 and did not learn to read or write until he was 16. As the conservative and coneiliatory president of the International Press- men’s Union for 23 years, he was a bulwark of old-line labor leadership and helped to immunize American labor against the economic heresies which were infecting British labor. During the World War, he, with the late Samuel Gempers, put over the war with the unions in a big way. Mr. Berry then stepped in on his own account and came back from France & major with a D. 8. O. ‘The year 1924 marked a crossroads in his career. Campaigning for the Democratic nomination for the Vice Presidency, he went a long way with La Follette and dissident and chal- lenging elements generally. When the nomination went elsewhere, it was reported he would back La Fole lette. He pondered the matter and then stepped out boldly for the ultra- conservative John W. Davis, who to- day represents the utilities in their opening attack on the utlity act at Baltimore. In his new job, Mr. Berry will be mainly & co-ordinator, to “unite busi- ness, labor and consumers.” )