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Zurich Herald, 1930-04-24, Page 3Will Soviet Rule Last? By Cant, J, Pe V. Lotter'. Coast, Leder, who sat for Bast Lei- Coster" a5 a Conservative from 1924 to 11929, ,has recently returned from a ;Cour of observation in Russia. I am often asked whether Bolshe- isrn will last, Obviously there is no direct answer to such it 'question, but it sets one considering e var'ietY of possibilities and trying to arrange them in order of probability. I hope, however, that no .one will think l am trying to set up as a prophet, If by "Will Bolshevism Last?" you mean "Will the system of government based on Communist principles• ever become permanently established In Russia?" I would say that it seems to me Highly improbable, I cannot be- lieve that the putting into practice of the Communist 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 as consistent with: the theory, the result will be quite different from what Marx or anyone else imagined, I think Lenin appreciated this. Fu- ture developments depend a great deal on how far the same realism 4s shared by his successors, Ten Years in Power On the other hand, if you mean '"`Will there be a spontaneous uprising of the mass of the people driven to despair by Bolshevist tyranny?" I be- eieve that this is equally unlikely. A repetition of 1917 seems to me almost inconceivable, except as a result of widespread famine or unsuccessful 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 organizing an effective opposition to the party now in power are almost insuperable. It is conceiv- able that some form of religious move- ment might sweep the country, but the time for this is hardly yet. Ifa therefore, by "Will Bolshevism Last?" you mean "Will the Communist party remain in power for at least the next ten years?" the answer is that very probably this wil be so, if only because , in 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 neeessarily'imply that there will be no changes of policy, or that internal con- flicts 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 rather than diminish. Jp till now, when there have been serious disputes about policy, the pro- cedure has been for the victorious sec- tion to "cleanse"r 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 one sort of Communist opposing another sort, and would not involve opposition to Communism itself. Rule By a Party So far the party,, has succeeded in maintaining its integrity. In form 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.. There is something in the published discussion strangely re- miniscent of the proceedings of the Councils of the early Christian Church, Once a point of dogma has been set- tled, ettled, you must either conform or be expelled as a heretic. In reality these controversies have arisen out of prac- tical consideration of rnethod, 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 is 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 office a British Government is r•ola- tively independent of the caucus of the party to which it belongs. In Rus- sia the party organization is the only real power. Stalin, who is a virtual dictator as General Secretary 'of the Centrale Committee of the Party, is not a member o fthe Government at all. The policy of the party becomes the policy of the Government, because, the bodiee which elect the Council of Peo- ple's Commissars (the Cabinet) are dominated by the party. It is for this reason that to the outside world no difference canbe discerned between the activities of. the Gover.•nnrent, the party, and the Third International :(Which is also c'tbminatecl by the Rus- sian Communistic Party). Internal Difficulties Internally, there is very often any- thing bat harmony. The two chief of - halal newsnapers, Izvestia, the organ 'of the Government, and Pravda, the organ of the pasty, do not by any means always sing the same tune. ".'here is a possible line of cleavage .here. The Government has to deal ;with actual situations, It has to ad- minister a country, the vast bulk of Which is non-Comittunist,.and to 'main- ;Cain relations with other countries all hostile to Communism. It Works with o, staff of officials and technicians very Ow of whom are Communists, The Government has a natural in. "Oblation to compromise, but at pre - Sent it 19 dominated by the party. The business of the party headquarters is to see that compromise goes no fur- her than 18 absolutely, necessary to revent a breakdown at home and to obtaineconomic essentials from alined. This must be a galling posi- tion for a Minister, however Been a Communist he may be, because it in- volves a degroe of supervision that must be almost intolerable, and makes his tenure of office most precarious, Orthodoxy vs, Ability It seems to be the deliberate policy of the party to make the Government a mere "facade." It may be quite true that the Foreign Commissariat, anxi- ous to maintain friendly relations with Foreign Powers, deplores the activi- ties of Communist propagandists abroad and that the Trade Commissar- iat may think it would get on faster with economic reconstruction if things were made easier for foreign capital, but if the party beadquarters say "No," that is an end to the matter. To resist means loss of office, 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, Kamer- eff, Lunacharsky and the rest disap- pear from the stage, they are replaced by men whose primary qualification is that they are safe. Moreover, when someone loses his .official position, he also loses his position in the party, which tlius tend more and more to get into the hands of people whose claim to preferment is orthodoxy rather than administrative ability. Value of Personality The party's greatest danger seems to lie in the loss of thee older genera- tion of Bolshevists, who were single- mincled and hada wide experience of the world, and the advent of careerists and pesants. A rapid decline in the strength of the present regime might well cone from weak 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 an 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 -Harry Hull, the ship's donkey engineer, who exhibited the bird when the. Iiner docked recently. Hull said the bird displayed the abil- ity of an albatross at following the ship and furthermore, proved to be an excellent barometer during the stormy passage across the Atlantic. Just be fore each spell of bad weather, the pigeon, which , sometimes disported with sea gulls, 'would seek its shelter- ed perch - in the engine -room venti- lator. Frightened Away at Alexandria. Hull noticed the bird in the venti . lator as the ship prepared to leave. Alexandria and chased it away. He was so surprised when he noticed the same bird in the same spot when the liner reached Villefranche that he called William Pott, an engine room trimmer who was "always fooling around with some bird or animaI,'any- way. When Pott learned that the bird had been aboard at both ports he said that they had better call him "Joey," Pott, learning of Joey's ,value as a barometer, gradually became acquaint- ed with the bird and saved scraps from his dinner to feed him, He said the stowaway became quite tame, and, when he imitated a pigeon's call Joey would coo' back at him ,from the shad- ows in the ventilator. But an extra heavy storm struck the ship and Pott" was ordered to cloee the ventilator. Captured During Storm • "Don't de that, Pott," said Hull,= "The bird's in there," Hardly able to' stand against the gale, Pott clutched the ventilator and cooed softly into the darkness. Joey answered ancl, expecting his usualsupe per of bread crumbs, ,fluttered to the a opening. Pott made grab, and the stowaway became a prisoner; • Thereafter Joey Jived below, and Hull says that they will keep him as long as he wants to stay. Pott feels that way, too. 8— A Prayer: Fr. -6M' a Little Robin Here is a• quiet rosin: Pause for a little space, And in the stillness cool, With hands before, thy face, Pray for God's grace. • Let •no unholy drought: Enter thy musing minds Things that the world has wrought, Unclean, untrue, i mieind, Leave them behind; Pray for the strength of gocl Strength t await His Plan, Rise from the knees less clod Than when t,ly prayer begat, More of a titan,. A Friend to be Pr+ Xt f MUCH WISDOM MUST BE IN HIS•HEAD Mrs, H. S. Lloyd's cocker spaniel Luckstar of Ware, champion of show at Ci'uft's, will be entered in city and suburban canine show at Crystal Palace, London, England. Man -Made Clony For Germany Germans Plan to Drain North Sea for Vast New Land, British. Hear London.—A gigantic scheme to drain a large part of the North Sea, former- ly sometimes called the Gorman Ocean, is being evolved by German engineers, according to uuconflrmed 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 come into being with rich min- eral wealth to keep a population of over 20,000,000. The Gerrhan experts, according to the reports, are considering building two giant dams. One would stretch from Hunstanton, Norfolk, near Sand- ringham, the King's country residence, to the upper coast- of Denmark, and the other around Rent, across the English Channel and along the Bel- gian 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 i and Essex would lose their seaboards. Between the dams would be a, now land—more than 100,000 square miles in area—possessing amazing mineral wealth and possibly rich oil fields. British experts 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 was reported recently. After many months of negotiations an agreement has 'now been reached it Is understood, whereby Bruce coun- ty is brought within the Hydro fold. The price' involved in the purchase of the Foshay interests is said to be more than $500,000. While the terms of the agreement have not been announced, it is under-; stood to be a complete clean-up of the power situation in the Bruce peni9r- sula. Little Circumstances Little opera:, ticket$. . Little supper Atte, Make the young man's tailor Wait and wait and wait._ Miss Lloyd George Delights Commons In Maiden Speech London. --Miss Megan Lloyd George delighted the House of Commons re- cently with her maiden speech in Par- liament, which was delivered before a crowded gathering, Ramsay MacDon- ald, Prime Minister, whose son Mal- colin also made a. successful debut as parliamentary speaker in the same de- bate, was in his seat as leader of the House, Miss Lloyd George occupied a prominent place on the Liberal benches. Below her sat David Lloyd George, with paternal anxiety written large upon his face, to be succeeded by a confident smile as his daughter got hold of her audience. On her left was her brother, Maj. Gwilynr Lloyd George, member of Parliament for Pembroke, In the ladies' gallery above were her mother, Dame Mar- garet Lloyd George, and her sister, Lady Carey Svann. Miss Lloyd George spoke confident- ly and clearly, with modesty and sim- plicity. Her topic was the slum clear- ance bill introduced by Labor, which the Liberals support. She 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 anz ther crusade is likely to do" --a salty at the Conservatives and their empire tariff Crusade which the Liber- als disapprove, which. put everybody, including her father, at their ease for the rest of the speech, which was punctuated with laughter as well as applause. Malcolm MacDonald's debut ' was also successful upon a graver note. He also supported the slum clearance bill and the Prime 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. The bill, he was, was the key that would open better houses for those who needed them the most, He: "They can say what they want, I'm a, self-made man." She: "For heaven's sake, George, do you mean to say you have the job fin- ished?" 1 Par cubs, found by ranger in. Glacier National Park, are soon here 'it a frolic with their grtardian, woe hopes to find the mothers tram whom grey probably e.caped, 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 Old Colleague." "In view of what is going on, it was impossible for me to keep up nay as- sociation. Tile I.L.P. has lost both its grip on Socialism and its sense of the meaning. of `comrade. If the salt has lost its savour, it is henceforth good for nothing.».—Mr. Ramsay MacDon- I r, Ramsay MacDonald has discon- tinued his membership of the Inde- pendent Labour Tarty, He bas writ- ten to tbo Hampstead branch stating that he will not continue his subscrip- tions. This ends a relationship with the I.L.P. which began in 1894. There are those who think that the future of the I.L.P. is involved. "The I.L.P. is definitely challenging the Front Bench leadership in the House of Commons," comments the Times, "A 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 his association with it, is the I.L.P. a fit and proper or- ganization to belong to the Labour Party Mr. MacDonald's accusation is scathing — salt without savour; good for nothing; uncomradely; and without a grip on Socialism. The logical consequence of Mr. MacDon- ald's resignation is the exclusion of the I.L.P. from the secession of all whose loyalty to the Labour Party comes first. The issue between com- prehensiveness and schism may cause heartburning, but it cannot be evad- ed." Will Others Follow? "The wonder is that he 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 let us say gratitude towards the organization through which he 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 see which —if any—among his Ministerial as- sociates see fit to follow his example. For the T.L.P. is strongly represented in the Government. Lord. Ponsonby is a member; so are Mr. William Graham, Mr. Lansbury, Mr. Wedg- wood Bern, Miss Bondfield 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 I.L.P., asserts: "The fact is 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 long Period of time preserved a more con sistent body of principle than has the present Prime Minister. "His view of politics as a biologi- caI process in which by a series of gradual transformations and adapta- tions, society 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 or later to lead him to take his present step. Nothing Gained by Useless Repinings "Nothing would be gained by use- less repiuings. Without fuss or de- monstration the Premier has decided to make a clean break, All the I.L.P. can do Is to pay glad tribute to the work he did to build up this party, and to turn to the work of today and to -morrow. The past is behind. Only the future matters. "But it -will not be easy for the I.L.P. to escape from the shadow of this man's personality. He was not an easy man to live with. He is not likely to change. But he remains, and is likely to remain, the unchallenged leacher of the Labour Party. Within that party the I.L.P. will have to fight, as it has always done, for its own poiut of view. "In the day to day battle of ideas it will have to cross swords with, its old colleague, but that it will do so with a vivid remembrance of the old days of intimate comradeship will be :the deepest wish of all to whom the triumph of the common cause is the compelling motive." "In the old days before the Socialist movement captured the Trade Unions, the LL.P, was the driving force," as- serts the Scotsman, "and practically everything else in the Socialist cause. It was never numerically strong, but it made up by ceaseless energy and unremitting' propaganda for its lack of numbers, With the permeation of the Trade Unions, however, the influence of the I.L.P. weakened, the balance of power passing into the hands of the Unions. "The formation of local Socialist parties was another blow to its in- fluence. Until then practically the only way to enter the Socialist move- inent, if one was not a Trade 'Union- ist, was through the LL,P. ' "But with the institution of local Socialist parties a new path. to mern- bership of the Socialist movement was opened up, of which increasing ad- vantage had been taken. Thus, in spit et the vast growth of the Social - ist party, the 2.L.P, has remained a numerically weak body, with a mean- bersbip that nilmbers only a few thousands, "Small, however, as the member- ship of the I.L.P. Is, there is no lilte- lihood of It submitting to extinction to suit the wishes oz' convenience of the official Socialist leaders," "Sines 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 LI,P, as the one Socialist society with a network of con- stituency br'anchc leas become 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.P, have chosen to follow Mr, Maxton rather than Mr. MacDonald. The Labour movement is not tolerant of splits, and the more Independent the I.L.P. becomes the more, prob- ably, will its membership decline." $315,000,000 Invested in Ontario Hydro Toronto.—In a review of the activi- ties of the Ontario Hydro -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 in 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 Commission in 1929 in- cluded four towns, 13 villages, and 33 townships, making 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 in the 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. The total invest- ments of the Commission are now $315,000,000. During 1929 the Commission built 1,150 miles of transmission lines in rural districts to serve 6,270 custom- ers. The total number of rural con- sumers now exceeds 37,000. The forthi;oming annual report will, it is believed, show reserves aggregating approximately $88,000,000. 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 made known here by Prof. George R. Wie- land of Yale University, who perform- ed field work in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico the last two summers, There he gathered specimens of hardwoods, petrified cycads, pelmet- tos, clumps of tree fern roots, the more usual pines, together with some bones of turtles and dinosaurs, all of which lived about 40,000,000 years ago, according to the professor. In the period known as the Meso - verde division of the upper Cretaceous time, the great interior "Pierre Sea" stretched from the region of the pre- sent Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, and the present San Juan basin region constituted a great flat country of swamps and bayous, "These fossils from the "Mesaverde' of the San Juan basin of extraordin- any variety make possible one of those rare opportunities when we can bring to light a landscape of bygone times," Professor Wieland said. "The investi- gation of the new material is well un- der way." Prof. Samuel J. Record of the school of forestry has verified tho de- termination of several of the species of hardwoods which are of remark- able preservation as seen in thin sec- tions under tie microscope. "Who is the best Marr usually at a wedding?" "The preaoher--he gets the profits hand takes no risk."