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!rfa 'MMfaMiMtR^^ 1 < • » -♦ â- â- Â» 4 Otmjs ^(^tJt^e Csinmentary on the CSinmentary on the q |"j, L iL C J HighlighU of the Week'i Newt . . . DY tlliabcth tCdy WATCH FKANCIi: Fiance haa Often been called "tUe key uatiou o( Europe." Now, as uever before, thlB deslKUiition U apt. For the eyes of all Kuropean govenimoiits are wateh- tOK the shifts and changes In the French Cabinets these days, and for- eign policies of many countries are modified accordingly. An article In "Current History" points out that, since the National (Chamberlain) Government of Great Britain la a Government of the Right pr Conservative elements, It is greatly to Its Interest to have a government Of the Ulght In France, too. Hence the breakup of the l-Ycuch Popular Front, coming slraultaneouBly with the resignation of Leon Blum, Leftist Premier, last week, was cheered mightily in London. In licrlin, too, the fall of the Blum Cabinet was hailed as the opening of 9 new^cra, with French policy more favorably disposed toward Germany. A likelihood of the early drawing away zrom Uie Franco-Soviet pact by the new French Government was also cause for rejoicing there, strengthen- Ing Hitler's hand to make faster work Of Cisccl.;. Slovakia (or Alsace-Lorraine Or Dunzig or Llthu:.nla). At hon'e in France the nation was apparently not so pleased. Leon Jouhaux, French labor leader, claim- ing followers numbering six million, Was furious at the forced break-up of the I'opular Front, threatened a gen- eral strike of all industry. Socialists and Communists alike, who together form the largest bloc in the Chamber, cried "Down with the Daladier Gov- ernment!" The former would not lend the government their support when Invited to do so; the latter were ex- cluded as being too extreme lor a Centre or Right government. For a moment, then, France was close to revolution which was kept from coming to a head by the realiza- tion that "another 1789" in France would precipitate a general European war. Why? Because civil war in France would create a situation there directly comparable to the situation In Spain; the armies of Hitler and Mu.ssolinl would undoubtedly plunge into the contlici and there you would have it. The new government is representa- tive of only a small suction of the French people, with pressure being brought to bear on it from both the Rlgni. and the Left. The crisis is still on; I'-rauce wlU be worth watching for the next few weeks and every new development will be aignillcant. augments It, later to bo denied. At present five candidates are prominent- ly njeulloned: Arthur Purvis, former Chairman of the National Employment ConimlHRion; Hon. Dr. U. J. Manion, former Minister of Hallways and Can- als; Hon. J. Earl Lawson, once Min- ister without portfolio in the Bennett Cabinet; Denton Massoy, Toronto M. P., and Sydney Smith, President of the University of Manitoba. WHAT HITLER MAY PROPOSE: The foreign affairs oommeiitator who writes under the pen-name of Augur reported last week in his private ser- vice to London subscribers that Ger- many would propose a sensational deal for extensive territorial acquis- ition when Chancellor Hitler visits Premier Mussolini In Rome next month. Augur said Germany would ask a free hand In gradual absorption of the Danublan region as far as the Black Sea. In exchange, It would offer to help Italy eventually to take from France the rich etrlp o' French terri- tory along the Italian border includ- ing the Savole region and the Medi- terranean port of Nice; the Mediter- ranean Island of Corsica, and the North African possession of Tunisia. CONSERVATIVE LEADER: Every flay in every way the list of prospec- tive candidates for leadership of Can- ada's Conservative Party Is growing bigger and bigger. Sometimes rumor PRESIDENTIAL SETBACK: Presi- dent Roosevelt's administration stag- gered under an overwhelming blow dealt in the United States House of Representatives last week when a number of Democrat members ''cross- ed the floor of the House" and voted with the other side against the Presi- dent's Government Re-organlzatlon Bill. The issue was one of increasing Presidential powers to permit long overdue reforms to be made in the executive branch of the government. Observers say the defeat In such a manner of the Re-organizatlon Bill means a big drop In the prestige of the President, that It will mark the beginning of a nation-wide struggle between F.D.R. and his "big business" critics. READY IN AUGUST: The long- heralded transatlantic air service on a twenty-tour-hour schedule between New York and Foynes, Ireland, will start this summer, perhaps by the first of August, it was oiSclally announced from New York last week. (Passen- gers and mall will be carried â€" com- mercial flights must wait till later.) According to the schedule, two planes win take off simultaneously from op- posite sides of the Atlantic, an Im- perial Airways "plck-a-back" plana from Ireland, a Pan-Amerlcaa Airways Boeing seaplane from Port Washing- ton, N.Y. Says Stratosphere Has Possibilities Harressing and Storing of Atomic Energy Are Among Them The great potentialities to be de- rived from the exploration of the strat- osphere, among which the harnessing and storing of atomic energy was, perhaps, the most Important, were dlscui^aed by Scjuadron Loader John A. Sully, until recently commanding officer of an R.C.A.F. squadron at Winnipeg. In addressing the Kiwanis Club of Mo;treal last week. The speaker expressed the view that the conguost of Hie uliatosphere was but a matter of time. Purposes of the explorations being made in the stratosphere, said Squad- ron Leader Scully, wore many. Scien- tists were trying to discover what the changes In air pre.'fs'ire and tem- peratures were at that level In com- parison with sea level, and what was the wind .speed, believed to blow stead- ily from the oast. Efforts also were directed to finding out what the elec- trical conductivity of the air at strat- osphere height was for broadcasting purposes and for the ni;vlgatlon of air machines. Would Revolutionize Industry The pxplorfM'n niso wore interested In discovering all lliey could about the sheet of ozone which was sup- posed to envelop the earth at a great height and which stops or "dampens" the ultra short-waves which scientists say would otherwise destroy all life On earth. The effect of the rarefied air nf the stratosphere on radio sig- nals was another problem waiting "Most lmp<irlant consideration of all. however," the speaker said, "was that the discovery of how to harne.sB and store atomic energy would com- pletely revniuiionize Industry, and would probably be the salvation of civilization when the earth's present â- tock of coal and oil came to an end." The \BOOK SHELF] By ELIZABETH EEDY â- â€¢â- â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â€¢â- â- â- â€¢â€¢â- â- â€¢t Ilritish imports last year totalled 16,118,6(50,000, a high record of many years. C'jnstructicn is so extensive in Cn- mbia that a shortage of materials it reatened. Guards along the Russian border tt* using doga to detect trcspaasers. MURDER ON SAFARI, by Elspeth Huxley. A new type of murder story came into being last autumn with the pub- lication of Elspeth Huxley's "Murder at Government Hou.se," which was at once a satire on high ollicial life in Chania colony and a cracking pood thriller. All-round fun. Now Mrs. Huxley has done it again with "Mur- der on Safari." Vachell, the Canadian sleuth who tracked down the killer of Chania's Governor, is back, too, with some even stranger problems to solve. Can a herd of buffaloes prove the nlibi of Rutley, Laily liaraitale's conceited chauffeur? Why did t'le elephants take alarm i.nd move mysteriou.sly away'/ Who put walnuts on the im- provised coffin containing the remains of I,ndy Raradale? Then there's the thrilling climax, in whic'.i Vachell sets a trap for the murderer with himself as bait. The rharatcrizalion, the Hitty stylo and the swift-moving action of the plot grip the reader's interest from the flr.st pajje to the last, and vividly re-create, from the wTitcr's first-hand knowledge, the sights, sounds and smells of the African wilds in which the scene is set. Murder on Safari, by Klspeth Hux- ley, pub. by Reginald SaundersV To- ronto. $2. To Stop Avalanches liy planting thousands of alder bushes on the upper slopes of the Alps, the Swiss (lovernmcnt hope to check avalanches. These tremendous falls of snow, which rush down the mountain sides at express speed, have caused heavy loss of life and great damage to pro- perty in years gone by. The object of planting the bushe; is to hold the snows in the upper .^Ips and so check the first movement which gathers force ai it rushes downwards. Chinese pigtalla are being used in making textilaa in Bradford, Eng- land. South America Progressing More Rapidly Tlim Mortis -8 Australia Plans Research Course Inatitutions On Aeronautic* to Cost Million Dollars Hon. R. G. Casey, federal treasurer, has announced Australia will set up aeronautical and engineering research Institutions at a capital cost of |1,- 000,000. The establlsbnients will be based on recommendations contained In a report by H. E. Wlmperis, former di- rector of the British Air Ministry at Farnborough. Mr. Casey said the Wlmperis report directed attention to the need for creating a chair and department of aeronautics, with a reader In meteor- ology, at one of the universities. This would ensure a supply of aeronautical engineers for military and civil avia- tion. Experimental Work An establishment equipped for ex- perimental work in wind-tunnels for engine tests, and for the physical testa of aircraft Instruments and other ap- paratus, would cost 1572,000 with an annual maintenance cost of about |50.- 000, Mr. Casey estimated. In addition, capital cost of building; and equipment for a national refer- ence standards laboratory at Canberra would be ?.320,000, with a maintenance cost of roughly J4O,OO0, ; 1 News In Review | Fear War With Ruuia TOKIO. â€" The danger of conflict with Soviet Russia is increasingly claimliig the attention of Japanese leaders and the public. Persistent rumors of preparations â€" lacking official conflrmatloa â€" and bellicose statements on both sides have intensified public anxiety. In Informed quarters It was under- stood Japan recently moved some regular army units from China battle- fronts to Mauchoukuo to man the bor- der of Mauchoukuo and Soviet Siberia. Chinese Prepare Push SHANGHAI. â€" Chinese said this week they were preparing a gigantic drive toward the Yangtse River In an effort to retake Nanking, the capital they lost to the Japanese Dec. 11. Now victories along the Tientsln- Pukow Railway and Talerchwang fronts were seen by the Chinese as an inspiration for the new offensive. A strong Chinese force along the Tientsln-Pukow line was reported ready to strike out toward Pengpu, about 100 miles north of Nanking. Consider Next Move BERLIN.â€" Chancellor Hitler's next step was debated this week in the wake of the greatest vote of conll- dence ever accorded him. His creation of a groatsi Geiniany by annexation of Austria March 13 drew the approval of more than 91) per cent, of the nearly 50,000,000 per- sons who voted in the April 10 plebis- cite. Germans speculated whether he would bo Inspired to take rapid action on other Nazi "unfinished" business. Would Spend $5,000,000,000 More WASHINGTON, â€" A potential $5,- 000,000,000 program of sponding-for- rocovery look more detlnite form this week when President Roosevelt and his advisers agreed to ask the United States Congress for Increased relief appropriations. In Some Respects, Says Senator Webster, Who Dec!ares That Intere:t In the Sovthem Con- tinent h Growing Day By Day, The importance of the nations of the South American continent la to- day being increasingly recognized by European powers and by the United Slates. Senator l.orne C. Webnter said at Montreal last week in recount- InK tlio impressions made on him tiy a co-day 15,000 mile visit to that continent. The unsettled European situation Is largely responsible for this new at- tention to South America, Senator Webster believes; the new attention being exoniplinod by German, Italian and more recently British radio broadcasts directed at South Amer- ican listeners. Everywhere in South America representatives of the vari- ous world powers are engaged in fos- tering closer commercial and political intercourse with that continent. Thoroughly Modern In some rospocts, the Senator found, South America haa passed North America In development. For Instance South America bus a regular Trans-Atlantic airplane service, car- rying passengers, mail and perishable express. Some o" the universities of South America ante-date North Amer- ican institutions as XlcGill and Har- vard by as much as a hundred years. Good roads are much in evidence throughout the â-  continent, and tbor- ougrhly modern motor cars, railways, radios, moving pictures, etc., are to be found. "Much of the South American na- tive population Is being Anglicized by movies made In the United States and Britain," Senator Webster re- vealed, ''with the younger generation learning the language quite well by this means." The Younger Generation "The same younger generation Is developing an intense na'lonallstic spirit, a spirit very much in evidence In other parts of the world," the sena- tor found, "and young leaders are rising rapidly through the continent." The colorful historical background of South America, and the many at- tractions it has to offer, give It great potentialities as a tourist mecca, ac- cording to the Senator. "Names like Morgan, Raleigh and Captain Kldd, Drake and the Spanish Main, are brought vividly to mind by South America," he said, "and their asso- ciation with the lands visited lends a distinct fascination." Poor Things Some girls marry and have nothing l)ut their husbands to show for it. â€" Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph. They also canvassed the possibilities nf broadening the Federal Govern- ment's present housing activities, such as the United States Housing Authority's program of eleariug slums and building homes for low Income Rroups. Sent Down For Five Years NKW YOKK. â€" Richard Whilney, liunkrupt broker and former president of the New York Stock Exchange, was sentenced last week to servo from live to ten years In prison for grand larceny. Whitney, whose brokerage Arm, Itlchard Whitney & Company, failed on March 8. had pleaded guilty to two indictments charging llrst degree grand larceny in the misuse of secur- ilies entrusted to his care by the New York Yacht Club and mombera of his family. VOICE CANADA THE EMPIRE Till: WORLD AT LARGE of the PRESS CANADA Morning's the Time A watch that is wound in the morning will last longer. The tigiit- ly wour.d main spring will stand the shocks and jars of day better than a loose main spring. For the same reason people are fresher and do bet- ter work in the mornings. By night they get run dov/n. â€" Windsor Star. â€" o â€" Better Be Careful Dr. W. T. Ciombie, Superintend- ent of Queen .Alexandra Sanitarium, London, Ontario, and noted author- ity on tuberculosis, has an unpleas- ant thought for us. If proper tests were taken, he asserts half of the population of Canada would be shown to have tuberculosis. Not that they should be in sanitaria, decidedly not, but they should protect themselves against care and overwork lest they find themselves there. â€" Canadian Magazine. â€" o â€" A Big Attraction Every effort must be put forth by the authorities at Queen's Park to conserve and increase tHe game fish and wild life in general in this pro- vince. That the great Northern On- tario playgrounds and fisherman's paradise are the main attractions to -American tourists who left something like $295,000,000 in this province in 1037, is evidenced in the constant stream of inquiries flowing into the Canadian Travel Bureau each spring. â€" Guelph Mercury. Canada's War Debt As shown by the Canada Year Book the war and demobilization ex- penditures of Canada up to and in- cluding the fiscal year 1920 totalled $1,670,406,236. In the next three years. 1921-23, there were further expenditures of $23,000,000 odd and since then there have been additional small items chargeable to war. These figures apply only to actual war ex- penditures. To get the cost of the war there would have to be added to them the large, continuing, outlays for pensions. From 1914 to 1920 the gross debt of Canada rose steeply from $544,391,369 to $3,041,529,578. This enormous increase was chiefly but not entirely due to the war ex- penditures. â€" Kingston Whig-Stand- ard. â€" o â€" Those Royal Commissions The Ottawa Journal laments the now familiar orgy of royal commis- sions which has marked our Canadi- an political scene in the past few years .... But it is a splendid way for a gov- ernment to skate around responsibil- ity; it is assumed that by appointing a commission they have "done some- thing about it." The list of commissions in the past few years would be an impressive one. Whether the price of clearing the air in some cases was worth the cost is an open question. Yet one might well wonder where the respon- sibility of politicians in action begins and where it endsâ€" or if the royal commission is joiner to become a con- venient vehick. for hokliti-,' electoral .support.â€" Hamilton Spectator. A Delightful Surprise for London (England) Couple It i-sn't every British subject who CnrU his lUng and Qucn at the door in answer to a knock. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Whitaker, oil age pensions-. s (nt the liTht) had that delightful and surprising exnerience in their Lon- don flat, March 29, just as they we<e p.c;- ri;g tor lea. At the left, tile King and QuMit, during the teatime oh»t. THE EMPIRE . Inconsistency The whole of Hungary's agricultu- ral labor market has been disorganiz- ed. Why'? Because Germany has engaged 20,000 Hungarian agricul- tural laborers for work in East Prtia- sia. Yet Germany still keeps up her de- mands for colonies, saying that she' needs to find an outlet for her sur- plus population. â€" London Sunday Express. "It Has No ParaUel" Those in Canada who cherish the freedom of speech, writing, and pub* lie meeting guaranteed by the Con^ stitution are much concerned at the "Padlock" Act recently passed in Quebec. The measure has no para]^ lei in a British Dominion. On< clause declares it to be illegal for any house to be used to "propogat% communism of bolshevism by any means whatsoever," though it is to . be noted that in no part of the Act ia any attempt made to define these pert nicious doctrines . . . Among elemen- tary principles of British constit.u* tional gfovernment are freedom of speech, of the press, and of public meeting, subject to the limitations of the criminal law; the right of a man to a fair trial in open court if charged with an offence; and thb freedom of the home from arbitrary search. All ot these are violated by the new Act, and the anxiety of lib. eral opinion throughout Canada at the reactionary nature of the measure can well be understood. â€" Manchester Guardian. Expert Visions "Hivver" Plane. Forecasts Mass Production of Air-» planes for Privatl' Owners' Use Dr. Alexander Klemin, head of New York University's school of ae- ronautics, this week forecast mass* production of "flivver" airplane^ within five yea'-s which would incor- porate revolutionary safety devices for the private owner. * In an article in the "Quadrangle" undergraduate publication, Dr. Kle- min said developments making fo* greater safety would Include an abo-. lition of rudders to simplify opera- tion, improved air brakes and devices ' to make "stalling" and "spinning", impossible. , The prices of the "flivA'ers", he ad-. ded, would be down to those of popu- lar automobiles. Vehicles may b^ made, he said, which coulj be used either as airplanes or automobiles. Tricycle Landing Gear He characterized as the most pro- mising safety development the tri- ' cycle landing gear which simplifies, landing. Another encouraging factor' in modern light plane desisrn is the^ elimination of rudders, inasmuch as* the novice pilot has a hard time co-* ordinating his hands and feet in us-. iiig ailerons, elevators and rudder," Dr. Klemin found. Lateral control, as in some pres-* ent day experimental types of planes, would be achieved by aileron opera-* tion. The service costs of the "flivver,", the article concluded, would be no greater than on the averajre automo< bile, and hangar rent would approxi- mate garage rent. New Coal Fiirziace Runs For Weeks Without Attention to Fuel Sup- . ply, Ash Removal or Cam* per Setting The head of the house, weary after' a season of coal stoking, can look for-' ward to another winter when he won't have to fire the furnace mui«* than once a fortnight, the Mellon In_v stitute reported this week at Pitts- burgh. Dr. E. a. Weidleln, director, at the- end of the Institute's first year In Us spacious 16.000,000 home, told trus-* tees of the development of anlhracita heating equipment that operates "fo^ weeks at a time" without attention. Ho told, too, how 218 scientists had spent »l,O62,830 in the year on scien- tific research on things ranging frop shirt collars to dish washing. Pointing to the possibilities of coirf bining heating plants with oth* household utilities, and of using base- ments for recreation and other pur- poses, he said: Installations of anthracite heatlilg equipment are now opcr.itins for weeks at a time, without any attentl.in whatever to the fuel supply, ash re- moval, or damper settings."