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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1938-05-26, Page 2Commentary on the Highlights of the Week's News DEATH DEFERRED—Wild rejoic- ing marked the Austrian Nazis' re- ception of Hitler's triumphal march into Vienna, but while these vocifer- ous celebrations were going on in the streets of the capital, the country's 300,000 Jews sought frantically to escape over the border, or cowered in their homes. A few of the fugitives succeeded in making a getaway, but it was not long before Nazi soldiers stationed at border points were stopping all Jews from leaving the country. Next news to come out of Austria was that several prominent Jews had committed suicide rather than face the prospect of Nazi rule. Prof, Wolfgang Denk, internationally known head of the University of Vi- enna's second surgical clinic and Jonas Borak, X-ray specialist shot themselves as the Nazification of Au- stria continued under a new slogan: "One blood, one folk, one reich, one fuehrer." The suicide toll already has pass- ed the hundred mark, and will likely go higher as Nazis continue throwing hundreds into prison, depriving the Sews of all civil rights. —o— PAUSE FOR THOUGHT—The Eu- ropean crisis has eased off for the moment leaving us with a short breathing -space before the next cri- sis. For a next crisis there will be without a doubt, within the next month, perhaps, because all the in- gredients are ready mixed. The pot has only to come to a boil. Mean- time we are provided with a chance to think, to act before it is too late. Reason for the pause: Hitler has to have time to digest Austria, con- solidate his new position in Central Europe before going after Czecho- slovakia. To take on Czechoslovakia he would have to throw a major part ,bf his army into the field against the enemy's compact, highly -efficient de- i'ense forces; he would have to be prepared to fight Russia, too, and perhaps France (both allies of Cze- choslovakia). —o— DRAMA FESTIVAL—Greater intee- est than ever is being taken this year in getting ready for the Dominion Drama Festival to be held at Winni- peg in May. After the regional drama competitions have all been run off, three full-length plays in Eng- lish and one in French will be se- lected from the Dominion at large, and numerous one -act plays will be admitted as well. A minimum stand- ard of excellence has to be met be- fore contesting groups may compete at Winnipeg. It is indeed encouraging to note that Canadian interest in the drama is increasing. 'We hope the Festival competitions will bring a crop of ris- ing young actors to the fore and get them started on the road. —0 --- FLOOD CONTROL—Within the next two years, $2,000,000 will be spent on a large scale water conservation and flood control project for the Grand River Valley. The cost of the undertaking is to be borne in a three-way split by the Federal and Ontario Governments and the inter- ested municipalities. Commissioners will be appointed— two from Kitchener, three from Brantford, two from Galt and one each from the other benefiting mu- nicipalities along the Grand River and its upper tributaries—who will choose a chief engineer to superin- tend the carrying out of the project. It is hoped to get engineering work under way by the middle of June. Major operations involve the erec- tion of two darns, one at Waldemar on the upper Grand River, west of Orangeville, and one at Hellen, on the Conestoga River near Drayton. These will hold back the water in spring and keep it from flooding' the region; in summer they will release it into an area that for the past few years has been drought -ridden, —0 --- TURN IT DOWN—The United States Government has flatly turned down the proposal made by Premier Mit- chell Hepburn of Ontario that we ex- port surplus power for the use of American consumers. Washington plainly does not want Ontario's -pow- especially on a short-term basis, subject- to withdrawal. If, however, the Province of On- tario and the Dominion of Canada ,dhottld be willing to develop the St. Lawrence waterway for power, the Washington Government would agree to the diversion of the Kenot7anii River waters via Long Lac into the Great Lakes system. Note; It is unlikely that events will find the Province of Ontario pre- pared to spend millions of dollars on a St, Lawrence waterway project. —0---- PRESS 114 PERIL—Freedom of. the Press is in "very real peril," accord- ing to J, A. Spender, distinguished British newspaperman, who, last week told the Institute of Journal- ists in London that "a very few false steps may seriously prejudice the li- berties which are the common cause A—C By Elizabeth Eedy •of the whole profession," Freedom of the press "is totally extinguished in one-half of the world, and in the other half there are enough enemies of liberty who will gladly seize any handle that we may give them," said Mr. Spender. Highlights Of A + Hitler's Career The Past Five Years of His Life Have Been Eventful Ones For Germany And For the World. 1933 January 30.—Appointed chancellor of Germany. October 14, — Germany leaves the League of Nations and the Disarma- ment Conference. 1934 June 14.—Meets Premier Mussolini of Italy at Venice. June 30.—The "blood purge"; incip- ient revolt by Storm Troop Leader Ernst Roehm quelled by gunfire. July 21.—Franz von Papers appoint- ed as his special ambassador in Aus- tria, which mourned the Nazi assass- ination of Chancellor Engelbert Doll - fuss, • August 2.—President von Hinden- burg dies; Hitler assumes functions of the president under the title of Reichs-chancellor and Fuehrer. November 28.—Nazi named to head Danzig State. 1935 March 16.—Reintroduction of uni- versal military service in Germany. June 18. — German -British naval agreement concluded. 1936 March 7. Renulitarization of the Rhineland. Hitler's peace offer. July 1:1.—Restoration of friendly re- lations between Germany and Austria. August 28.—German compnlsory mil- itary service extended to two years. October 24. Germany recognizes Italy's conquest of Ethiopia. November 14. — Germany discards limitations of the Versailles Treaty concerning rivers and streams. 1937 January 12. - Hermann Wilhelm Goeringgoes to Rome for conversa- tions with I1 Duce. 1938 • February 12, Hitler summons Chan- cellor Kurt von Schuschnigg of Aus- tria to Berchtesgaden; demands au in- crease in Nazi influence in the Aus- trian Government, February 15.—Hitler accepts new Austrian cabinet, reorganized to in- clude .five Nazi -friendly members. 11Iareh 11.—Hitler Nazifles Austria. The BOOK ,SEL F By ELIZABETH EEDY THE BOOR OF BIRDS The first comprehensive work ever published with aid major species of birds of Canada aucl the United States shown in full color has been issued by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. As well as vivid portraits of 950 birds, this handsome work in two volumes contains bio- graphies setting forth the characteris- tics of each species of bird, its range. breeding habits and other features of .behaviour. Clever migration maps, too, disclose new developments in the study of bird migration throng$ bird - banding. The "Book of Birds" brings into the home the many aspects of beauty, mystery and entertaining fact from the far-flung kingdom of birds, is of interest to all nature lovers as well as to the trained scientific observer. Thirty-seven fascinating articles by outstanding bird authorities make a veritable encyclopedia of bird -lore. A thing of beauty, "The Book of Birds" is also eminently useful. National Geographic Society, of Washington, D.C., publishes "The Book of Birds" at cost ($5). Ed. by Gilbert Grosvenor and Alexander Wetmore, '738 pages, two volumes. Ontario Mines Topped Record TORONTO. — The Canadian Insti- tute of Mining and Metallurgy in con- vention here heard reports of record mineral production its Ontgrio and Quebec during the last year. Ontario mineral production, from all sources, reached $229,938,000, an increase of 24 per cent, in value over 1936, itself a record year. Quebec's bureau of mines in a statement said a new high, $66,089,000, was reached in that prov- ince in 1937, an increase of nearly 31 per cent. The Ontario report said the sea- sonal decline in structural materials and clay products was normal and prospects for 1938 indicate that last year's record might even .be exceeded, In Quebec the low ebb in mineral production was reacbed in 1932, when the total fell to $25,638,000. Starting in 193* the surrey took an upward turn whiu'h has since been maintained, .ays Scienc.e Is i . .�' �.°di Psychologist Declares That • The •Past Few Decades Have Seen Our Conceptions of Life on This Universe Turned Upside Down --- New • Adjustments Now To Be Made Scientific advance ii1 the last few decades is tureinge dttr world upside down and it would be well for its lea- ders to think about the envfronitiental readjustments necessary to happiness, Dr. Gerald Wendt, of New York, told the Association of Commerce at New York Last week. Dr, Wendt, director of the Ameri- can Institute of New York, ants draft- ed January 1st to the director ' of science for the New York World's Pair, 1929, He spoke on "What. Sei ence Is Doing To las," After recalling the various basic raw materials necessary to the things we use today and some of the inven- tions they have made possible .tire Dr. said: improve Conditions "My definitiion of science is tete best ase of the human intelligence for improving the conditions ander which we live — that is modifying -oar environment to our purposes. "We have accomplished this to such an extent that our environment has receded•as a problem and so the next generation will have to devote its en- ergies tb modifying the social environ- ment. No Longer Combat Nature "My grandfather, for instance, went out to Iowa in 1853 and, like thous- ands of other pioneers, came face to face with nature. Today I work in a skyscraper and I live in a skyscraper and I go underground between them. Half the time .I do not even know - what the weather is. And the only time I come face to face with nature is when I go to a hospital, Otherwise -- and that hasn't happened yet —I sel- dom encounter nature. "Our contacts, therefore, are slow- ly being reduced to those with other individuals, and the energy we .onto gave to combating nature we now ex- pend on people. That is where Ate next task lies — to adjust ourselves to each other while adjusting science and ourselves." Didn't Need to Write It was revealed recently' that a self-made man who hail. 29aanakiset accounts was illiterate and 'could not write his own cheques. Engineer Forecasts Speed of 600 MPeH, Achievement Anticipated In The Stratosphere WASHINGTON. -- Airplanes which Will fly 'at speeds approaching the speed of sound are "just around the corner," an aeronautical engineer told the Society of Automotive Engineers here last week, • G. T. Lampton, of Williamsport, Pa., declared that 500 -mile -an -hour air- planes operating at high altitudes soon will be built and that planes capable of flying 600 miles an hour are con - c eiveble. The spc'inl of sound is approximately 800 miles an _hour. Previous estimates of the ultimate speed of human flight have fixed the figure at somewhere between 475 and 550 miles per hour, In a special high-speed wind tunnel of the national advisory committee for aeronautics at Langley Field, Va., speeds of 700 miles per hour can be demonstrated. Tests of model airplanes in this tun- nel leave indicated that at speeds in excess of 400 miles an hour a "shock wave" develops on the wings or nose of an airplane and creates a tremen- dous resistance, thus definitely limit- ing its speed. Lampton pointed out, however, that his estimates of speed were based on the asstunptiou high speed airplanes of the future will fly mostly in the stratosphere where, under rarefied air eondltions, the "shock wave" will not appear until very high speeds are reached. Such airplanes would not only im- prove long-rauge commercial flying, particularly over the oceans, aviation experts pointed out, but would have considerable military advantage in time of war. It would 'be possible to reach and attack an objective before a defending force could organize its anti-aircraft batteries. Fossils for Company A scientist recently told a crowd- ed court that he spent nights among the fossils in the British Museum rather than go home and face his wife. Brazil expects to grow more cot- ton per acre this year than ever be- fore because of more rigorous seed selection. CANADA • EMPLRB CANADA. Watch Out! Free oh ,bombing planes now fly at altitudes of 36,000 feet. In the next war one will not even have the doubt- ful satisfaction of seeing where the bomb conies from before being killed by it,—London Free Press, Stockings And War If ladies' chiffon stockings drop in price within the next few months, we are informed by en enquiring writer, Neal O'Hara, it'll. be because Japan is dumping raw sills stocks on the mar- ket at panic prices to raise war funds that it so desperately needs. — St. 'Phomas Times -Journal. Female of the Species The fact has been noted in Montreal that the women motorists there very seldom appear on charges of infring-, ing the traffic. laws. One explanation is that they are more careful and bet- ter drivers and the other that the female of the species is usually ninth more charming than the male variety, —Brantford Expositor. Pepping Them Up A Toronto pastor where the congre- gational singing had been half-heart- ed, painfully so, is reported to have secured great results when, prior to the singing of the Doxology at the close of the service, he remarked to his parishioners: "Just imagine you are singing `Hail, hail, the gang's all here'." The response was vociferous. —St, Catharines Standard. Tightening Up On Paroles It will be reassuring to the people of Ontario to know that Attorney -Gen- eral Conant has given his assurance that he will go carefully into any ap- peals for remission of jail sentences, and that only in exceptional cases will appeals be granted, This assur- ance was given in reply to a request of the Police Association of Ontario and the Chief Constables' Association of Canada. The police know better than anybody else the great dangers that lurk in the too -free granting of appeals for parole. With their records to guide thein, they are unable to es- cape the conclusion that some paroled prisoners persist in living the life of a criminal.—Stratford Baacon-Herald, Refugees From Nazi Austria Flock to Borders, Seeking Safety Anti -Nazi Austrians fleeing before the development of German ideas in the peaceful conquest of Austria are flocking to various borders in 'quest ref safe havens. This Radiophoto shows a Nazi border patrol at Lindau, on the Austro -Swiss line turning back a car of refugees, while a priest at•right is allowed to pass unmolested. Must Surrender Eskimo Relics To Ottawa --Canadian Scientists, Archaeologists and Explorers No Longer Able to Take Away Specimtens Without Report. OTTAWA.—No longer will scams tists, archaeologists and explorers be able to excavate Eskimo ruins in Can- ada's Northwest Territories and carry off what they find, New regulations, now effective, re- quire all archaeological specimens 10 be submitted to the Dominion Govern- ment. Anything required by the Na tionel Museum of Canada will be re- tained and the remainder will be re- turned to the finder only on the con- dition that they be permanently de. posited in some public institution, in Canada or elsewhere, where they will be available for study. One time the rule in arcltaeological research was "tinders keepers." low - ever, the League of Nations set to work and finally recommended to all couaitries its which excavation work Was likely, a standard set of ruses, ciiief aim being to ensure to each country the retention of anything dug up in its own domain if so desired. Permits Needed In 1930, the Council of the Nortb West Territories adopted an ordinance for protection of 17skiuio ruins. This required permits from the Commis- sioner of the Territories for examin- ation and excavation of archaeological sites and laid down various other reg- ulations 'which have now been supple. mentecl by the League of Nations. Alligator in Bed A Prague chambermaid found a live alligator in a bed. She was so scared she lost all power of speech for some hours. It was an Ameri- can's pet. Sunburn Metter ATLANTIC CITY, ---Au ultra -vio- let ray meter inay be installed on the beach here next sutnnter so that bath- ers may know when they've had coot:gh sunburn for safety. Livestock Shows Definite Increase Higher Egg Prices May Cause Farmers to Raise More Chick- ' ens This Spring Productionof livestock was definite- ly on the increase in the past year, ac- cordiug to a report of the Ontario Department of Agriculture last week, which said that cattle, sheep and lambs were considerably higher now than a year ago. Swine, hens and chickens, however, showed a decrease. The department listed 2,619,200 head Of cattle, all classes, in December, 1937, compared with 2,503,000 a year previously. The report added that low prices for eggs in the spring of 1937 combined with high grain prices caused farmers to reduce poultry flocks to tbe lowest level in some years, particularly lit northern and eastern Ontario, but with egg prices on the uptrend it was expected far- mers would raise more chickens this sprint, a THE EMPIRE What Chance For The Jews? What has happened since 1938 to the 500,000 Jews of Germany is dra- ntatic; it attracted at first the atten- tion .of the world, and called forth. the solidarity of the Jewish eeommun-' ities for a planned overseas emigra- tion. What is happening to the mill- ions of Jews in Poland, Austria, Hun- gary and Roumania is less dramatic, but• more terrible; it has so far not attracted the serious attention of the general public, nor has it evoked in equal measure the solidarity of outside Jewry.. The problem, is that of over 5,000,000 men, women and children, full of energy and the will to live, in- telligent and talented, who are not only denied tate possibility of develop- ing their capacities in their own country, but also increasingly de- prived of the means of existence, and, in a narrowing world, denied the poss- ibility of emigration, Of the 10,000,- 000 Jews in Europe, only 3,000,000, who are citizens of the Soviet Union, enjoy equality of opportunity, but without individual or religious free- dom; and. 1,000,000 in the Western democratic countries, who enjoy both that opportunity and individual and religious freedom, have a fair chance in life. Of the rest, over 3,000,000 are in Poland, nearly 1,000,000 in the; kingdom of Greater Roumania, art other 1,000,000 divided between a re- duced Austria and a reduced Hungary,' 400,000 'in Czechoslovakia—who are relatively well off -350,000 in Ger- many, and 250,000 between Latvia, Lithuania and Yugoslavia. They con- stitute an international social problem which cannot be solved by philanthro- py alone, or by any efforts of the Jew- ish ewish community alone; but requires the united efforts of the nations, such as was made by the States members of the League when 2,000,000 Greeks in 1922 were uprooted from tbe Ottoman Empire, --Nineteenth. Century And Af- ter (London). News In Review Jap Lines Badly Shaken SHANGHAI. — Chinese Communist armies in guerrilla bands are choking Japanese communication lines in hit- and-run attacks throughout the vast North China war area. Reports from the North China prov- inces invaded by Japanese troops in- dicated this week that swift Chinese thrusts behind the lines had stalled movement of Japanese reinforcements to the central front. Based in mountainous areas away from railway lines which Japanese have conquered, the Chinese Commun- ists have struck time and again at iso- lated Japanese detachmeuts, Liberal Returned SARNIA.—East Lambton this week remained in the Government column, with Charles O. Fairbank, Reeve of Petrolia, retaining the seat made va- cant by the death of Milton D. McVi- car. With ten polls out of 123 unre- ported in the Provincial by-election, the Liberal -Progressive ltad a major- ity of 2,482 over James A. Currie, Con- servative, British -Jap Agreement Expected SHANGHAI. — Unofficial Japanese say that a British -Japanese agreement with regard to China may be reached within a week or so, According to the sources, it may be based on Japan's undertaking to recognize Britain's dominant interests in Central and South China and Britain's recognition of Japan's dominance in North China, Nazis In Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO,—Efforts by she German government to regain free Nazi cultural activity for Germans in Brazil rail into a blind alley this week. 11*as ascertained at the Foreign Office that Foreign Minister Oswald° Aranha has rejected flatly .the latest series of representations against Bra- zil's ban on Nazi activities. Czechoslovakia's Hitlerites PRAHA, Czechoslovakia.—The Nazi Sudeten Germans under Konrad Hen Jett, who is called the "Czechoslovakia Hitler," became the largest party in Parliament last week -end when the German Agrarian League (distinct from the Czech Agrarian Party) with- drew from the Government. The Agrarians, one of the smaller German minority parties which had supported President Edouard Renes in his efforts to resist riieht'er Adolf Hitler's "Nazification" of Czechoslo- vakia, withdrew from the Cabinet and merged with Henlein's Sudeten Ger- man party. The surprise Move, hailed by Nazis as bringing nearer a German fulfil• meat of Eisnrat'ck's 50 -,year-old theory that "the master of Bohemia is the master of liueope," gave Hen]eie forty-nine deputies in the lower Chem. ber of Parliament.