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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Blyth Standard, 1930-04-30, Page 3Will Soviet Rule Last? By Capt, J. De V. Loder r Capt. Loder, who sat for East Lei - 'fester as a Conservative from 1924 to 929, has recently returned from a !.our of observation in Russia. I ata often asked whether Bolshe- fIstn will last. Obviously there is no direct answer to such a question, but 11 sets one coestde'inig a variety of possibilities and trying to arrange them in order of probability. 1 hope, however, that no one will think I am trying to set up as a prophot If by "Will Bolshevism Last?" you mean "Will the system of government based on Communist prfuclples ever become permanently established In Russia?" I would say that it seems to me highly i oprobable. I cannot be - Bove that the putting into practice of the Comnnmist system will not In- volve such concessions to human na- ture and the logic of events that, how- ever plausibly these may be repre- sented es consistent with the theory, the result' will bo quite different from what Marx or anyone else imagined. I think Leniu appreciated this, Fu- ture developments depend a great deal on how far the same realism is alined by his successors, Ten Years In Power On the other hand, if you mean "Will there be a spontaneous uprising of the mass of tate people driven to despair by Bolshevist tyranny?" I be- lieve that thisals equally unlikely. A repetition of 1917 seems to me almost inconceivable, except as a result of •..."'vhdeeeeitM Tasenete^tt'-1lilsutQBUfii1 --- Value of Personality obtain economic essentials trout abroad, This must he•a gelthig posi- tion for a Minister, however keen a Comuumiet he may be, because it in- volves a degree of supervision that trust be almost intolerable, and makes his Immo of office most precarious. Orthodoxy vs, Ability It seems to be the deliberate Policy of the party to make the Government a niers "facade." It may he quite true that the Foreign Commissariat, anal - one eo maintain friendly relations with Foreign Powers, deplores the activi- ties of Communist propagandists abroad and that the Trade Commissar - fat may think it would got on faster with economic reconstruction if things were made easier for torelgu capital, but if the party headquarters say "No," that is an mei to the matter. To resist means loss of Mace, as one after the other nearly all the original revolutionary leaders have found to their cost, A strong man In the Gov- ernment tends to endanger the purity of the party's policy, and so, as the well-known figures, Trotsky', Iianleu- ell, Luuacharsky and the rest disap- pear from the stage, they are replaced by mon whose primary qualification is that they are safe, Moreover, when someone loses his offieial position, he also loses 1110 position in the party, winch thus tend store and more to get into the hands of people whose claim to preferment is orthodoxy rather than administrative ability. war. A revolt of peasants, industrial disorders, mutiny in the Army or Navy, would not by themselves be suf- ficient to set the country ablaze; they would be local, sporadic affairs, The difficulties of orguniziug an effective Opposition to the party now iu power are almost insuperable, It Is coucedw able that some form of religious move- ment might sweep the country, but the time for this is hardly yet, If, therefore, by "Will Bolshevism Last?" you mean "Will tate Come -midst party remain in power for at least the next ten years?" the answer is that very probably this wii be so, if only because , to normal circumstances, no other organized body capable of tak- ing its place Is likely to arise within this space of time. But this does not necessarily imply that there will be no changes of policy,'or that internal con - filets will not arise. On the contrary, divergence of opinion within the party about the proper measures to meet practical emergencies may be expect- ed to increase rattier than diminish. Up till none, when there have been serious disputes about policy, the pro• cedure has been for the victorious sec - to "cleanse"'the party by turning out its recalcitrant opponents, Some day this may bring an organized op- position into existence, but it would, at first at any rate, only lead to ono sort of Communist opposing another sort, and would not involve oppastttou to Conuusnesm itself, Rule By a Party ' So far the party has succeeded In maintaining Its integrity. In forst its controversies turn largely upon inter'• pretations of orthodoxy, All sides support their cases with quotations from Lenin, and to the uninitiated it is often very difficult to discover the point at issue. Thera le something in the pulnlishecl discussion strangely re- miniscent of the proceedings of the Councils of the early Clu'istian Church, Once a point of dogma has been set- tled, you must either conform=or be expelled as a heretic. In reality these controversies have arisen but of prac- tical consideration of method, and per. haps still more .out of the conflict of personalities. The supremacy of the party is still unshaken, it is difficult for us to realize to what an extent Russia le ruled by a party and not by a Government. Whatever party Is In power in England takes on a national complexion. While it is in ofllee a British Government is rela- tively independent of the caucus of the party to which It belongs. In Rus- sia the party organization Is the only real power- Stalin, wino is a virtual dictator as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party, isnot a number o fthe Government at all. The policy of the party becomes the policy et the Government, because the bodies which elect the Council of Peo- ple's Commissars (tho Cabinet) are doiniaated by the party. It is fon' this reason that to the outside world no difference can bo discerned between the activities of the Government, the party, and the Third International ;(which is also dominated by the Ras - slain ConvuunisUc Party), • Internal Difficulties Internally, there is very often any- thing but harmony. Tile two chief of- ficial newspapers, Izvestia, the organ of the Government, and Pravda, the organ of the party, do not by any means always sing the sane time. There is a possible line of cleavage here. 'rine Goverment has to deal with actual situations. It las to ad- tntutster a country, the vast bulk of Which is non-Conmenist, and to main - ;tette relations with other countries all hostile to Communism, It works with at staff of officials and technicians very itew of whom are Communists, The Government has a natural la- elinateon to compromise, but at pre - lent it is dominated by the party. The ius(ness of the party headquarters is to see that compromise goes no fur- ther than is absolutely necessary to kDeveut a breakdown et heel AAto j More of a man, The party's greatest danger seems to lie iu the loss of the older genera- tion of Bolshevists, who were single• minded and had a wide experience of the world, and the advent of careerists and pesauts. A rapid decline in the strength. of the present regime might well come Prost weals leadership. Everything depends on the character of the actual head of affairs, who Is at present Stalin, the secretary-gener- al of the central committee of the party, and Stalin is as able man. It remains to be seen what difficulties he -has created for the future by get- ting rid of outstanding personalities who might be his competitors,—Mont- real Standard. Pigeon Crosses On Mauretania As Stowaway Earns Keep by Acting as Weather Prophet Which Leads to His Capture A red -checkered pigeon stowed away in a ventilator of the Cunard liner Mauretania at Alexandria, Egypt, and made a voyage of thousands of miles, despite all efforts to drive the sea- going bird ashore, according to Iiarry IIall, the ship's donkey engineer, wlto exhibited the bird when the liner decked recently. Hull said the bird displayed the abil- ity of an albatross at following the ship stud furthermore, proved to be an excellent barometer during the stormy passage across the Atlantic. Just be• fore each spall of bad weather, ,the pigeon, which sometimes disported with sea gulls, would Beek Its shelter- ed perch in the engine -room venti- lates. Frightened Away at Alexandria. ITull noticed the bird In the venti- lator as the ship prepared to leave Alexandria and chased it away. IIe was so surprised wheu ho noticed the same bird in tine Baine spot when Ole liner reached Villefranche that he called William Pott, an engine room trimmer who was "always fooling around with some bird or animal, any- way. When Pott learned that tho bird had been aboard at bout ports he said that they had butter call him "Joey." Pott, learning of Joey's value as a barometer, gradually becanneacqualut- ed with the bird and saved scraps from his dinner to feed him, He Baia the stowaway became quite tame, and when he imitated a pigeon's call Joey would coo baclt at him from the shad- ows in the ventilator. But an extra heavy storm struck the ship and Pott was ordered to close the ventilator, Captured During Storm "Don't do that, Pott," said Aull. "The bird's in there." Hardly able to eland against the gale, Pott clutched the ventilator and cooed softly into the darkness. Joey answered and, expecting his usual sup- per of bread crumbs, fluttered to the opening, Pott node a grab, and Use stowaway became a prisoner. Thereafter Joey lived helow, and 111111 says that tltey will keep him as long as he wants to stay. Pott feels that way, loo, A Prayer From a Little Room Here Is a quiet Croom: Pause for a little space, And in the stillness cool, Witin hands before thy face, Pray for God's grace, Let no unholy thought Enter thy musing mind; Things that the world hue wrought, Unclean, untrue, unkind, Leave then behind, Pray for the strength of god; Strength ti await I-Iis plan,• Rise from the knees less clod Tian when toy prayer began, A Friend to be Proud of MUCH WISDOM MUST BE IN HiS HEAD • Mrs. II. 0, Lloyd's rocker spaniel i'.uckslar of Ware, champion of show et Craft's, will be eutered in city and suburban canine show at Crystal Palace, London, Eugland- Man-Made Colony For Germany Germans Plan to Drain North Sea for Vast New Land, British Hear Loudon.—A gigantic scheme to drain a large part of the North Sea, former. by sometimes called the Gorman Ocean, is being evolved by German engiueera,•according to unconfirmed reports received here. If the plan becomes a reality east- ern England would lose miles of its seacoast. But with a great part of the North Sea drained, a vast new land would conte into being with rich nein• oral wealth to keep a population of over 20,000,000, The German experts, according to the reports, are considering building two giant darns, One would stretch from idunetanton, Norfolk, near Sand- ringham, the king's country residence,' to the upper coast of Denmark, and the other around Dent, across the English Channel and along the Bel• glen and Dutch Coasts to the neigh- borhood of Scheveningen, the Dutch seaside resort next to The Hague, Dover and Calais would be connect- ed by giant bridges, thus making a Channel tunnel unnecessary. Norfolk and Essex would lose their seaboards. Between the dams would be a new land --store titan 100,000 square miles fu area—possessing amazing mineral wealth and possibly rich oil itelda. British exports almost unanimously view the scheme as Impracticable. One described it as "a wildcat scheme," Tidal conditions appear to be the chief obstacle. Ontario Hydro Buys Foshay Power Plants Bruce County Now in Pro- vincial Company's Fold Walkerton, Ont.—Acquisition of the Foshay interests in Bruce County by the Hydro -Electric Power Commission of Ontario waft reported recently, After many months of negotiations an agreement has now been reached it is understood, whereby Bruce coun- ty ls•brongbt within the Hydro fold. Tho price involved in the purchase of the Foshay Interests 1a said to be more than $700,000. While the terms of the agreement have not been announced, it is under- stood to be a complete clean-up of the power eltnation in the Bruce penin- sula. Little Circumstances Little opera tickets, Little supper .sto, Mance the young mart's tailor Wait and wait and wait, Miss Lloyd George Delights Commons" In Maiden Speech London.—Dii.ss Megan Lloyd George delighted the House of Commons re- cently with iter maiden speech in Par, Bement, which was delivered before a crowded gathering. Itaunsay MacDon- ald, Prime affiliates, whose Don Mal- colm also matte a successful debut as parliamentary speaker in the sante de- bate, was 1n his seat as leader of the House. Miss Lloyd George occupied a prominent place au the Liberal benches. Below her sat David Lloyd George, with paternal anxiety written largo upon his face, to be succeeded by a confident smile ea his daughter got hold of Iter audience. On her left was Iter brother, Maj. Gwilym Lloyd George, member of Parliament for Pembroite, In the ladies' gallery above were her mother, Da111e alar- garet Lloyd George, and her sister, Lady Carey Svelte. Miss Lloyd George spoke confident- ly and clearly, with modesty and sim- plicity. Her tattle was the slum clear- ance` bill introduced by Labor, which the Liberals support. Site told of her own experiences in her constituency of Angelsey, where are hovels where "you needn't look through the window to see the stars or go outside to get wet" She welcomed the bill as a "bold and enterprising measure" and congratulated the Government upon launching a crusade against the slums, "And I hope," she added, "that it will achieve its goal more speedily than another crusade 15 likely to do"—a sally at the Coueervatives and their empire tariff crusade which the Liber- ate disapprove, which put everybody, including her father, at their ease for the Teat of the speeclt, whiclt was punctuated with laughter as well as applause. Malcolm blacDanald's debut was also successful upon a graver note. He also supported tine slum clearance bill and the Prince Minister's eye softened as the speaker developed his theme with facility in an Oxford voice contrasting with the MacDonald bur that so often thrilled the house of Commons. Tho bill, he was, was the key that would open better houses Tor those who needed thein the most, lie: "They can say what Otey Want, I'm a self-made man,,' She: "For heaven's sake, George, do you mean to say you have the job 1111- ishad`t" Ramsay MacDonald Leaves Labor Party The Reason for the Premier's Action -----The I,L.P, Frankly States, "It Will Have to Cross Swords With its Ololleague." "in ries' ofd whaCt is acing on, it was impossible for 100 to keep up my as sedation. The LL.P. has lost both its grip on Socialism and its sense of the meaning of 'comrade.' If the salt has loot its savour, It is henceforth good for nothing," --Mr. Itunaay DlacDon- alil. Dir, Ramsay MacDonald has discon- tinued his membership of the Inde- pendent Labour Party. Ile ltas writ- ten to the I-Iatttpstead branch stating that he will not continue his eubscrip- tlous, This elide a relationship with the I.L.P. which began in 1804. There are those who think that the future of the I.L.P. Is htvolved, "The LL,P, is definitely challenging the Front Bench leadership lin the llsitae of Commons," comments the Times. '.4. second question cannot be Ignored. if the I.L,P. has such ob- jectionable characteristics that it is impossible for the Parliamentary lead- er of the greater Labour Party to con- tinue any longer bale association with 11, le the 1,L,P, a fit end proper o'- ganizatlon to belong to the Labour Party Mr. MacDonald's accusation la scathing—salt without savour; good for nothing; uncomradely; and without a grip on Socialism, The logical consequence of Mr. MucDou- ald's resignation 10 the evelusfon of the T.L.P. from the secession of all whose loyalty to the Labour D'u'ty comes first. The issue between canon- preheusiveness and echiem may cause hoartburning, but it cannot bo evad- ed." Will Others Follow? "The wonder 1s that lot should have deemed It worth while to retain for so long even a nominal membership," says the Birmingham Post. "Old as- sociations supply, one supposes, the explanation—or 1st us say gratitude towards the organization through which be personally climbed into pro- minence, combined with anxiety not to display too openly the reality of a grave split within the Labour move- ment. "It will be interesting to 800 which —if any—among his Ministerial as- sociates sea fit to follow his example. Prot• the LL.P, Is strongly represented in the Government. Lord Ponsonby is a member; so are Mr. William Graham, Mr. Lansbury, Ito-. Wedg- wood Benn, Miss Botdteeld and Sir Oswald Mosley, And for each and all of them the Prime Minister has accentuated an awkward problem of divided loyalties." Mr. Ernest Hunter, writing in the New` Leader, the organ of the 1.L.P,, asserts: "The fact 18 that the whole concep- tion of the 'Socialism In. Our Time' pro- gramme Is alien to Ramsay MacDon- ald's mind and mood. It is stupid to say that he has changed, Few public men in this country have over a loug period of time preserved a more con sistent hotly of principle than has tate present Prime Minister, "Iles view or politics as a biologi- cal process In which by a aeries of gradual transformations and adapta- tions, soelety moves on step by step, stage by stage, to a more perfect form is In sharp antithesis to the present I.L.P. view. All his tradition, training and thought was bound sooner 05 later to lead hint to take his present. step. Nothing Gained by Useless RepinIngs "Nothing would bo gained by item less rephlugs. Without fuss or de- monstration the Premier has decided to make a clean break. All the I.L.P. eau do is le pay glad tribute to the work he did to build tip this party, and to turn to the work of today and to -morrow. The past 1s behind, Only Beni curbs, found 11' ranger is Glacier National Pare, are seen here 0 a frolic with their guardiau, wino hopes to find the meteor from whom hey probably escaped, 1st party, the 1,L.P, has remained a numerically weal( body, with a mem• herahip that numbers only a few Iltonse n cls, "Small, however, as the member- ship or the LLM, is, there is no like• Mood of It submitting to extinction to suit the wishes or convenience of the official Socialist leaders." "Siuco the Labour party became not merely a national federation of trade unions and Socialist societies but a political party with roots and organi- zation in every constituency," points out the Manchester Guardian, "the place of the I.L.P. as tine one Socialist society with a network of con- stituency branch( has !meanie almost superfluous. "It has not been content merely to act as a missionary body—as which it might have survived -- but has as- sumed the right to lay down a pro- gramme and to press it against the majority opinion in the national party to which nominally it owes al- legiance and loyalty. The leaders of the I:L,1', have chosen to follow Mr. Maxton rather than Mr, MacDonald. The Labour movement is not tolerant of melts, and the more independent the I.L.P. becomes the more, prob- ably, will its membership decline:' $315,000,000 Invested in Ontario Hydro 'Potents.—Ie a. review of the activi- ties of the Ontario Ilydro-Electric Power Commission, C. A, Magrath, chairman, states that the co-operative municipal undertaking administered by the Commission has experienced "a most satisfactory degree of pros- perity." The peak load Is firm con- tracts in the final month of. 1929 fiscal year reached 1,119,000 horsepower, an increase of 153,000 horsepower over that month in 1928. New customers served by the Cmnmissioe in 1929 In- cluded four towns, 13 villages, and 33 townships, malting the total of the partner municipalities 608. Domestic consumption of 21 kilo- watt hours per month In 1914 in- creased to 115 kilowatt hours in 1928, indicates the enhanced ability of the citizens to purchase a greater degree of comfort. During the year the tenth unit was installed Witte Queenstown power house, bringing that power gen- erating station to 500,000 horsepower, the greatest single station in the world; 240 miles of additional power transmission lines were built, On these and other constructural activi' ties the Commission invested a fur- ther $10,000,000. Tine total invest- ments of tate Commission are now $315,000,000. During 192e the Counsleslon built 1,150 miles of transmtasion lines in rural districts to serve 6,270 custom. ers. Tho total number of rural con• slime's now exceeds 37,000. The forthcoming annual report will, it Is believed, show reserves aggregating approximately $38,000,000, Fairly Old Trees and Turtles Found in New Mexico 40,000,000 Years Old New Haven, Conn.—Discovery of perhaps the largest and oldest of all petrified hardwood forests was !lade known here by Prof, George R. lite• laud of Yale University, who perform• ed field work In the San Juan Basin of New Mexico the last two summers. Thee Ino gathered specimens of hardwoods, petrified cycads, pelmet los, clumps of tree fern roots, the more usual pines, together with some hones of ttu'lle% and dinosaurs, all of the future natters, which lived about 40,000,00D years "But it will not be easy for the ago,according 10 tho professor, In the period known as the Meso• verde division of the upper Cretaceous time, the great interim' "Pierre Sea" stretched from the region of tiro pre sent Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic LLl', to escape from the shadow of this man's personality. IIe was 1107 an easy elan to live with. He is not likely to change. But he remains, and is likely to remain, the unchallenged leader of the Labour Party. Within Ocean, and the Present San Juan that party the 1.7,1', will have to fight, basin region constituted a great flat as it has always done, fpr its own point of view, "Ili the day to day battle or ideas 1t will have to cross aworda with its old colleague, but that it will do so with a vivid remembrance of tine old clays of intimate comradeship will be the deepest wish of all to whom the triumph of the comuon ossa is the compelling motive," "Ili the old days before the Socialist, movement captured the Trade Ultious, the 1.L.P. was the driving for,::, as- serts the Scotsman, "and practically everything else in the Socialist, cause. It was never mimetically strong, but it made up by ceaseless energy and unremitting propaganda for its lack of numbers. With the permeation of the ado Unions, however, the influence of the ILA' wouketed the balance of power passing into the halide of the jUnions. "Tito formation of local Socialist i parties was another blow to its in- fluence. Until. thou practically the only way to enter the Socialist move- ment, if 'one was not a Trade Union- ist, was througin the L1..P. "Rut with the institution of local Socialist parties a new path to men- berehip of the Socialist movement was opened up, of which increasing ad- vantage had been taken. Thus, iu spit of the vast growth of the Social - country of swamps and boyous. "These fossils from the "Mesave'de' of the San Juan basin of extt'aordim dry variety make possible one of those rare opportunities when we can bring to light a landscape of bygone times," Professor Wieland said, "Tine investi- gation of the new material is well an - der way." Prof. Samuel J, Record of the school of forestry has verified the de• termination of several of the species of hardwoods which ace of remark• able preservation as seen in thin sec• tions ander the microscope, "Who is the heat mnyn usually at a wedding?" "Tine preacher -- he gels the Pruitt' and takes no reek.'