'You have perhaps heard of the 21 pilgrims who are' setting out from. San Francisco to live on an uninhabited island of West Caicos, wherever they are. I believe Great Bri-{tain partly owns the island, but then Photos by Skvirsky. few of us know what the British Empire contains. (Turn up the Statesman's Year Book and you will be' amazed.) I daresay the climate of the West Caicos is rather different from what we are having in Europe. Yesterday the papers simultaneously reported 100 degrees of frost in Fin Jand and a heat wave with several resultant deaths in Buenos. Aires. any weather what is the real attraction of desert islands "George said he thought the trouble with desert islands was that they were damp. But Harris said, "No, not if properly drained." Dampness, how-fever, is not the only drawback.
The San Francisco pilgrims say that they wish to get away from taxe telephones, newspapers, the madding. crowd, and be back with Nature. They may, But for most of us Nature, when you can't get away from her, is less alluring than when admired in a painting by Turner or Constable, or from a well-found hotel on the banks of the Thames. Two or three summers ago 1 was induced to sleep, inn tent on the ground, on a mackintosh sheet. The hardness of the ground and the number of roots of trees that sprang up under my sheet in the night were incredible, 'Taxes are bad, telephones burst rudely on your' most leisured—and most occupied moments, and news papers, ut course, are unspeakable. But these are the price pay for great many pleasant things—cen tral heating, good coal fires, electric Tight, warmed railway carriages, c. in all bedrooms." lipsticks' and furs lined boots. T would not give these for all the desert islands in the world, Tonight it is snowing hard. Getting about tomorrow will not be nic But at least there are borough coun oils to mobilize men with shovels and snow carts and make the streets passable as they can, and there will be. multitudes of fellow-creatures with whom to discuss the unendurable weather. You cannot discuss things with Nature. You can only! fight her, And we have enough wars on hand already without looking for more in desert islands, using pictures or papering any Job that necessitates:
of a step-ladder, avoid the get of slipping by nailing strips of gliss-poper of emery-paper the steps. In other words, "safely From the League The Great Trek Worms Eeowomne Sumey Eighth Yea sage of Nations, Genevs n Europe, continued war in China, intensified armament mobile capital and industry in leading industrial tightening of an almost complete blockade against Germany, radical changes in Eastern Europe the absorption of Poland and the Baltic states into German and Soviet economy, and attendant consequences of such tremendous trends and in-
Remus A Review of the Situation Since September tio, "Uy Sir John Hope "Stmopron, an, "exe Hoyal ituie of Taternational "Aitaies fon. 3/6, The problem of refugee that is becoming more. and neale every day, and there is hardly country left. in which it has not been felt in one way or another in the last two years. The present review deals comprehensively, within fluences upon world economy, make this latest survey Nations Economic Intelligence Service so much the more valuable and interesting as defining the preliminary frame of present developments, Cold print, statistics, graphs and the dry narrative of facts do not destroy the sense of inevitable tragedy, as though of an immense Greek drama, inherent in the story of European and world development the year preceding the open de-loration of war in Europe. Europe is the heart of the whole movement forward, with slight hesitations from political' checks, springing up since the last European war started the acute "economic blizzard" of post war depression, The chief checks bringing recession derived from the Austrian anschluss and the Czech crisis, but recovery sprang up almost at "once, though probably from a new cause, resolute Fearmament, utter the Munich settlement, In Britain, France and Germany the driving force came from resolve to prepare for or against another "Munich," while in the United States and Japan the causes spran from reactions and internal roots. These are carefully studied in the survey, which adds a keen examin: tion of imports and exports of countries producing primary products, The question of public finance and national income is also discussed. Enormous increases in government expenditure occurred in the United States in the effort to combat domes~ tic problems of distribution, but chief interest perhaps now centres on the preliminary expenditures by the chief protagonists in the European con-ict, notably Germany, France and the" United Kingdom. Rearmament expenditure is given close study, and the revelations are somewhat shocking, though modest compared. with military preparations now openly avowed. The development of social expenditure, cost of unemployment and public ' works, with the severe consequences on public debt, are carefully examined, and everywhere is shown the inexorable trend. that bred Fascism, ie, the making of the State the chief dispenser of "wealth, public organization followed up. by. greater state control with greater stale responsibility, State expenditure, by its growth to tolling proportions, brought consequences to the supply of money and the capital markets. In factual of cer tain industrial countries are discussed, notably the Reich and Italy as against "(ree economies of France, Br indi the United States, and al the monetary policies of certain ai eulttiral countries, The United agricultural "planned economy sketched without comment, but the obvious inference Is disquicling in its severe restrictions rather than better distributive trends.
Production and Germany's controlled economy allows for simple price control, but it disclosed that where prices have hardly rise, they. hi increased, white there Isa. serious deterioration of goods, with buying power simply negatived either by direct rationing for almost confiscatory taxation. The chapters on German economy in this make specially interesting readin the light of the Allies" hopes nieve their wai lar "This particular quest offers the problems of its demand and its resid ployment or displacement, started her rearmament mediately on the Herr Hitler and his first the older system economy" was bolstered by Dr. Hislmar Schacht's systematic clear-sees. Very S008, Schacht's tenure of control, the system that German and capital goods did not balance her purchases, and before long the customer States sought to combat that alan nat the cost of indebtedness in Germany's favour, in order to maintain economic relations with former customers with free changes.
'The survey quite readily admits in its array of the facts that although German' workers' standards on the eve of the present war were eireumsthe beginning of World War I, The scope is world-wide, and to" local readers possibly, the pages dealings with refugees Russian and (ose from Germany and Austria—will be of special. interest, The author deals compendiously with Chinese migrations resulting from the Present undeclared war The vast movement of refugees Into tne Western provinees Would probably. be" Imporsibie. without "some "govern Brent help. -OMelal "refugee Seat Rave been established onthe, Thu Kweichow border, where road money {fr'given to the destitute, who. ate told were to g9\ and what Yo do whi here. The. migration te (cline a revolution In the Indust Sinlanee in China, sv industry 1s bel Geveloped throughout the. Wester provinces, partly by encouraging 10 produce
System' of " ce-operative consumption "under 8 and. parity "bythe of stole tres. "As spon ities broke out In shanghai, Government persuaded industrial Its fo "move their plants. to the. ferior, and were prepared to pay sub: slalen' "towards "transportation and Some of them did move, their fastenes. to, or" establish Braneties tu, "Arehitecth Contractors," and "engineers vot ati nds have.sinee locked to. Yunnan, Kweichow: Sochuen, and even Shans, to" develop the hitherto. undeveloped provincer, Sir John goes on to describe the westward movement of Chinese unlversities and secondary schools, Altogether, he refers to the movement into the Western provinces as the brighter side of the pletuve, FoF many thousands there was Nothing "to "be "done "but to remain within' the. fantings zone.
Undoubtedly the European war hay to a large extent limited the migrate tion of certain types of refugees, notably Central Europeans, and coun: tries which have hitherto' been open to foreign settlors have of a sudd closed their doors to. such influ Not only have the belligerents, necessity, shut the gates, but neutral countries have found it expedient, for economic and other reasons, to adopt trict legislation of control." White it may be said that the whole problem is growing in complexity, the present review shed valuable tight on the Situation' ay it was, in the various countries affected by refugee move. ments, ait the time of the crisis of Which preceded the war—v.nt, cribed ox compared with British and neb, the German workers. did enjoy new level of well-being Which, if the alternative of unemployment under _pre-Hitler conditions ts Kept in mind, no doubt offered real advantages to' the workers concerned. One point emerses: The Germans in 1938-80 had already felt acutely the problem of ands placement, adjustment
Fosime. the Under the solved but even this did not quite camper site where time and practice were the only cures, "the ses popula tion and th and. death rates. the changing age-distribution of population and its pressing effect Industry, capital and labour supply.
rly there emerges the salient fact war of 1914-18 cut a wide ito the populations of the ints now again engaged—in Chapter VIE deals with intern: tional trade and foreign exchange world trade during recession Wwery, rearmament and world lances of, payment, mov' ment' of gold and' capital and. the The next chapter, on commercial policies, illuminates the records al= ly covered. The United States'
lo Autreement programme and the liberalization of trade ix envetully studied, and its review comes ity strlleing eonteast with the disruptive me fluence of the G barter method "l_system of blocked clearances.
craminy's tide drive, is method consequences, are concisely studied without many illusions. This study is further expanded in the final cha onsiders the econom! effects rearmament and ter= Fitorlal changes. The Sino-Japanese conflict is not forgotten, but teated broadly la the sense of Immediate dis ta Indexes are comprehensive and there is a considerable tables and diagrams, Th certainly worth study and for reference ug:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.