Monday,
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June 10, 1940.
A.
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14 SIX
An American asked how
we're
AN American has just been
Manufacturing schedules ware
firing questions at me about trebled to catch up with the
our British Constitution. The demand for this liveller, bigger, visit of the King and Queen to more luxurious Vauxhal! 14., 30 the United States had aroused m.p.g, at 30 m.p.h. Independent his interest in English democra
tic government. springing, all synchromesh goars, hydraulic brakes, etc.
May we demonstrate?
HONGKONG HOTEL GARAGE
Stubbs Rd.
Tol. 27778-9
Hongkong Telegraph.
Monday, June 10, 1940. Wyndham St., Hongkong Telephone: 26015-
"How does it work?" he asked. "How did it all begin?" I took out pencil and paper and set down the facts for him. This is what I wrote:
form Ir
governed
by
MONTAGUE SMITH
The world discusses the British form of Government, admires it, deplores it, criticises it: but what IS the British structure of Government?
There are in England and Wales the boroughs, and in return sold them (and in 'sightly allered
parish special rights and privileges, cm- Scotland) parish meetings, councils, rural district councils, urban bodied in charters of those days: district councils, borough councils, Councillors Unpaid
councile, borough
county County councils, in an ascending order of
council Bystem
our
The consent of a majority in both Houses is necessory, for the passage of a Bill into law in most cases, but the Commons alone have the right of saying what taxation shall be im- posed.
parish modern 31,000,000 Electors
importance, all of them consisting of OUT of the borough und members elected by the citizens. which between them constitute what methods of local government grew, we call the system of Local Govern- but they are in fact of little less thòn
century's achievement,
ment.
nation's
whose
THE suffrage, that is, the right to vote for member of Parlle- ment. is now almost universal among adult citizens of both sexes.
Above them all, determining the
There are now in England and
In Great Britain there are appro- powers which they may exercise, and Wales 581 urbon district councils and ximately 31,000,000 of us cleciers having in itself much larger duties
14,500,000 men and 10,500,000 women concerned with foreign affairs, de- 476 rural district councils, fence, taxation, and the general weli respective spheres of authority are who have the opportunity at least: non once every five years (for that is being of the people, is the Govern- defined in their names, 326
the maximum life of any Parliament) consisting of the House of county borough councils, 03 county to put a cross on a ballot paper and ment. THE prefix "Upecial to the Telegraph Commons (supposed to be the borough councils, and 81 county thereby choose which of two or more is used by the longkong Telegraph" is
opposing candidates shall represent Andicate nows which is strictly copyright supreme orbiter of the under the provisions of the Telecommandestiny), an elected body; the House councils.
most us. cations Ordinance, 1938. Bach news of Lords, un assembly of peers and bears the tndlestión “UP is received in
I can claim about one-fifty-thou- bishops, whose right of governance powerful body in local government, is supposed to be based on inherited delegating certain rights of adminis- sandth share in one M.F., and, small capabilities: the Cabinet of ters, appointed by the Prime Minis- trailon in such matters as education as it is, I cherish it more than some ter, and the Prime Minister himself, and roads to the rural, urban, and, of my fellow-citizens, for the truth borough councils. The county bor- is that celdom more than 60 per cent. take the trouble to appointed by the King as the car ough councils, now limited to towns of the electors
the political party which can with a population of more than 75, vote for a representative when they command a majority in the House 000, are alone independent of the have the chance to do so.
county council authority. of Commons.
Hongkong on the date of publication by
the United Press Associations, who tế- serve all rights and forbid republicaties, either wholly or in part without provĪGM arrangeral
Mussolini
Minis
The county council is the
IF Mussolini were strutting on his
This apathy is due in the main to Women can sit in authority on all All the members of all these local a belief that what we call our party own little stage we might find the cruss opportunism of Italian foreign these governing bodies, both local authorities are elected by the rate- system determines legislation and policy mildly amusing.
and national, with the exception of payers, and all of them are unpaid, makes a single vote ineffective. This But he
the players the House of Lords. There is no with the exception of the local ma- party systern, which had its origin in is une of at the moment, a minor thing In the British Constitution (although,
for a period of one year. Stuart times, when Roundheads and in the great drama now being which could prevent a woman from yors, who are elected by their borough the bitter parliamentary conflicts of led in Europe.
becoming Prime Minister. But it is and who receive a small allowance Cavaliers were fighting for the head 1 is, indeed, surprising that the not yet supposed that women have for expenses, part of which may be of Charles I.. has developed into a Italian Dictator, who has a very real enough acquired or inherited ability spent an entertaining distinguished perpetual clash between the ins and feeling for the theatre. should have to be members of the House of visitors. chosen such an unimpressive role Lords. since the war began.
There
councils
the outs, the Government, and the Opposition, the Conservatives and the Two In Five Of Us Vata
Socialists, in which it becomes al- The earliest forins of expression undignified is something
LTHOUGH these locul authorities, most, but not quite, impossible for any unattached individual, en Inde- about a warrior sitting on the fence of self-government (or democrncy) above the heat and smoke of battic, in this country were those of the A between them collect rates from pendent, to become an M.P. and, at the same time, thundering out parish and borough councils. The us amounting to nearly £200,000,000
precise origin of both of them is lost a year, and spend some £500,000,000 It takes a lot of money, to fight an chailenges like a medieval knight.
The spectacle has become tedious, In the mists of time, but both have a year-the balance being made up election. In most constituencies, and
for at
at by grants from the Government and few afford to risk the expense. The because all the world knows what existed in primitive forms side of the fence Mussolini would like least 1,208 years, and are undoubted the proceeds of municipal undertak- result has been the creation of party to fall enlf he could only be sure if the derivation of days when man, ings-we do not, save when the rate funds, out of which financial assis- of dividends and sufficient glory at abandoning a solitary existence, first demand notes reach us, take a pro tance is given only to candidates pre- found the value of tribal strength found interest in their conduct of uf-pared to submit to party orders on minimum risk.
and tribal rules.
fairs.
how they will vote if elected. Only about two in every five of us The name "borough," for instance,
Nevertheless, it remains possible for derived from un Anglo-Saxon entitled to vote take the trouble, to any man or woman to-day to become word "buri," meaning a sheltered or do so when our councillors are being an M.P., just as he or she, in the or may lower circles of authority, may be- fortified place, the camp or refuge of elected-n fact which may
and every a tribe. Thus Canterbury, which no not convince you of our belief in the come a local councillor,
Briton born could become Prime doubt you will visit, is really, accord- workings of democracy. ing to is derivation, the camp or
Now for the contributors to na Minister. That must be accounted tribal refuge of the men of Kent.
back to one of the splendours of our demo- tional taxes. We must go
cratic system. So, in the days when Roman history to start that story. civilisation had faded to the shadow
There was the semblance of Par-
In
The truth is that Mussolini still dreams of a greal new Roman En- pire; and his appetite le stimulated by the militant fascists, who want the Home-Berlin Axis. to become active Signor Ansaldo, the editor of " Telegrafo," put the matter plainly u speech: "Entire peoples are staking all their forces and resources in the present war, because the vanquished cannot delude themselves regarding their fate. They will be expropriated and impoverished."
of a name, when the Dones and, later,
Man With The Umbrella
As it is not any part of our war the Normens were invading our linment In Anglo-Saxon times, a 6 THERE remains to tell of the great alns to expropriate or impoverish our shores, you may plcture our fore- Council of State, summoned by the enemy, we can only conclude that this fathers (and yours) gathering them- king, and called the Witenagemot, or is the pretty ambition of the Diela-selves into walled towns, or boroughs, meeting of wise men. fors; and that, if there is any chance levying taxes, or "scots" (the word means "tax," as you see in the phrase
to be in at the kill.
superstructure of authority, which rises above all our system of elective government-the Cabinet. This con- The Norman Conquest, with its im sists of Ministers who are heads of
of a Nazi victory, Mussolini wants cot-free"), and ruled by a partly position of conquering barons, de- the great departments of State, each |
it was not until later kings the Prime Minister. But he is not quite sure about elected "moot," later to be trans- layed the growth of popular liberties, of whom is personally appointed by
formed into the borough council of and
that realised victory.
modern times.
There's the "rub. Hence all the
Italian shadow-Major And Elder-Men sparring, tub-thumping, bugle-blow- ing, and war talk-but only talk.
Talk will soon have to give place to action of some kind.
Observers in Rome say that events are forcing Mussolini to make a clioice.
T
it
nccessary
The Prime Minister is the leader of! to obtain the consent of their sub- Jects for the payment of money which the party in power, elected as such they urgently needed that the old by his fellow M.P.s. After a general other cause, such an defeat of the Government on a major Issue in the House of Commons, which the head of the moot was the systern of representative national as- election or reeve, formerly the chief local sembly was revived.
Magna Carta. was the outcome of may change the balance of power, tax-collector, foler to become the mayor, the "mator" or senior official, this necessity. King John signed it it is the privliege of the King to sum- assisted by the older and more solid at pleasant island in the Thames, mon the leader of the dominant party citizens, the elder-men, who have near Windsor, in 1216, and it esta- and ask him to form a Government. now been transformed into the older blished a principle which does little
If the party leader accepts, he to console us now that our income A few days ago tho Brillahmen, majestic in robes and ripe Minister for Economic Warfare (Mr. years, who will, if you are sufficiently tax is 5s. 6d. In £-namely, that there chooses his Ministers, who derive their sequently, he disagrees with them or Cross) said: "We have no quarrel distinguished, be at the head of the shall be no taxation without repre- authority from him alone. If, sub-
deputation of the borough council sentation.
they with him, he can dismiss them. with Italy and have every wish to
which meets you on arrival in their
From that time the evolution of Usually he "accepts their resigna- be friends. But if she wishes to be
town..
tion." Parliament proceeded briskly. freated as a neutral she must behave да опе."
So are the Alles-in a quiet but determined way.
in
The parish council, though of simi-
The first Parliament regarded as So, at the head of all our system We can tolerate-al a pinch-lar antiquity, had a different growth. Mussolini's passion for histrioniles, but it was a system designed more for such by our historians was summoned of government, both local, and na- we can't permit the ambiguous terr the administration of reattered rural-in 1205 by the rebel Simon de Mont- tional, the product of the centuries of "nan-belligereney" to masi Taly's areas, and, as far as history knows, fort. Earl of Leleester, after he had Pärliament, the afumately chosen-of role as a supplier to Germany and a it had an ecclesiastical origin. Theo defeated King Henry III. at Lewes, 31,000,000 electors, there appears in polential ally waiting the opportune dore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Can- and those he bade attend were the supreme power the single figure of a moment to Intervene.
terbury towards the close of the bishops, abbots, earls, and barons, man with an umbrella.
£10,- It will be betler
We do not pay him much. for everybody when Mussolini realises if he doesn't seventh century, is supposed to have two burgesses from every borough. been responsible for putting it into
The knights and burgesses were 000 a year is the salary of our Prime now--that Britain and France are established shape. Its primary duties not the slightest bit alarmed by his were the maintenance of church pro- elected by their fellows, and the bur- Minister, and even his Cabinet Minis- military and naval preparations.
fee of two shillings a day for atten- honour of his office is so great that His fire-cating performances and perty and discipline and the relief of cases were supposed to be paid alters get only £5,000 a year, but the
poor and destituts parishioners.
dence at the Parliaments now begin all aspire to it. the passionate rhetoric of the mill- tent Italian. publicists do not repre- In the years that have intervened ning to meet regularly at Westmins-
It might be gathered from my re- Their fellow citizens strongly counsells have sent the spirit of the Italian people, the parish
'marks on the party system, which no largely ordains the course of bath who are friendly to us and distrust through many vicissitudes. To-day objected to the charge. the Germanis.
in England and Wales there are at
To-day we pay our members of taxation and legislation, that 1, Smith, The Italians want to know where least 12,000 of them, but little powers Parliament 2000 a year, plus frat- a citizen, have now no safeguard of Mussolini stands just as much as the save those of debate remain to them, class railway fares to and from their my liberties in Parliament. Allies do.
though their officials the rector, constituencies, whether they attend
My, answer is ibis: That if my The Allies have been extremely church-wardens, sexton, and parish or not, and the ancient objection of
when one clerk are memorials of their ancient
In patient--the more
citizens bes
way cause is just it can always find ex many
*pression. diminished. realises the vulnerability of Italy in authority, the Mediterranean,
In 1944 the formal division of our There is, In fact, no body of men, A thousand angry Gaydas will not While their prestige, waned, that of
two Houses the no individual, whose grievance can- drive the Allied-vies-from-ho the borough_councils grew, and as Parliament into Mediterranean or compel the Allies successive kings of England Th Tong Heute of Lords, representatives-ot, not-find-the full opportunity of dis- to relax their contraband control. past years needed money. for their hereditary interests, and the. House cussion. In an appropriate local as Bluff passed out of the grim own enjoyment or their foreign wars, of, Commons, or commoners, elected sembly or ultimately on the floor of European game nine months ago.. they levied taxes on the burgesses of by the taxpayers, wax, achieved, the House of Commons Itsoit.
10
passed ter.
no
Tanks Have Changed War
By Major-General J. F., C. FULLER (Formerly Chief Staff Officor, Tank Corps), PRO- PHET of the AIR-TANK WAR
"They hunt the doves from thatr
cotas,
And chato the martin from his
hole.
Loudly roaring above, gibbering
below,
They are the owls which hoot over
the city."
From a Babylontan
Cuneiform Tablet. INFTEEN years ago, when writing on "Land and Air Warfare," 1 onded by saying: "We shall see the Com- mander-in-Chief and his Staff replies two Rista, ero his the boxer. Iis mechanised army and his air force. Sometimes the army will fix the enemy by holding him in front, whilst the air force will knock him out in rear: sometimes the air force will hold the Army will enemy in rear, and the knock him out in front. Thus, I think, will batties be won."
happened, even This is what has more so than I ever dreamt of: Be- cause the would-be prophet is always years behind the future, and not, as bel generally acclaimed to be, years In advance of his day.
Il 15 not tanks alone which have won battles for our enemy, nor it is alteraft alone; but, instead, the might of these two weapons in intimate co- They And the result? operation. multiply oach other's powers. For
100
+100 airplanes tanks instance. does not produce 200 units of fighting power, but-10,0001
Yet surely we can do as well as our enemy, if we will only cease dream- ing, thinking and speculating in terms
who
the of the last wir, we originators Laclien.
of these Juggernautle
Its birthplace was Fricourt, on the in where. old Somme battlefeld, February 1918 the 1st Tank Brigade "conclusively demonstrated that low- Aying airplans, cauld render the great- est protective assistance to tanks."
These words were written at that time. Nevertheless, nothing was done until July 1. when No. 3 Squadron, RA.F.. equipped with 16 Armstrong- Whitworths and commanded by Major Leigh-Mallory, D.3.0, was attached to the Tank Corps. Without its co- operation. August The Black Day of the German army"would have been no more than a gray dawn.
Then, a year inter, everything had sink of the QWAY down dripped economy.
It the
German army, long before the days of Hitler, things were very different. Not a book was published on tanks or aircraft which was not minutely examined by the General Staff, at that time in mufti. Then, in 1833, itler came into power, and a year later, in a long conversation with hlm. 1 discovered his intense Interest in mechanised warfaro.
What he saw in detall I do not know; but I know wital I saw it was not solely the physical power of the com bined tank-air attack, but, above all, ju overwhelming moral power. That was our secret In 1910, and that has been the German secrot during the last two weeks yet they gave us a free demonstration of it eight months ago in Polandi
In such moral-physical contests the war plan is an idea and not string of words. The docialve point of attack predetermined; it is the rear of the enemy and not him front or one of his flanks. No grand tactics are simple- namely to explot weakness and suc ceas.
minor tactic- veries of electric blows which, though they ro apt to lead to disorder in the advance, confusion in the produce complete ranks of the retiring cherny.
The method, as I wrote again, b not to work according to a fixed plan: But instead to exploit every oppor- unity. The mechanised army of the future "must strike with the utmost speed, the utmost secrecy and the utmost strength; for speed, secrecy and strength are the surest foundations of the knock-out blow."
Now for a little detail. Except for scouting, machines, every tank la an anti-tank, and every bomber-a Are MANY flying cannon. There weapons and many types of machines on land and in the air. The para- chutist is no more than a human bomb. and the motor-cyclist--a human bullet. Each weapon has its part to play-a definite part, and when all are or- ganised and their wielder trained to co-operate, together they play like one Vast orchestra a rhythinle cacophony of war.
As the senuting tanks move forward they are followed by groups of motor= cyclists, and as the troop-carriers, packed with parachuttals, zoom over- head they are protected by a cloud of Aghters. Under cover of this advanced guard comes the main body of the at- lack-medium and heavy tanks on the ground, bombers and their escorts in the air, all followed by motorised - fantry, supply columns, sic.
And in between these two mechanis- ed forces is a second formation of air- craft, which links their operations into one. It consists of three groups of machines:
-*4 33 - Contact patrols to keep tank battalion and company headquar informed of the progress of their machiner End of the enemy's more- menta and dispositions.
(2) Attack patrols to locate the enemy's anti-fank' defences, artillery, etc, and not only attack them, but Riso signal their positions by ment of smoke bombe. For this duty maps. are marked showing all likely anti- tank Toetition,
(3) An escort of fighters to protect these low allinde operations.
Such, in brief, in tuo general or- ganisation of the tank-air attack. which has so completely changed the form at warfare that, when we talk of exlients and buigen, wo must not picture them to be what they were in 1914-1918-ihat is, walled-in areas with defensive flanks; but instead as mov- ing bastions, with innumerable salty- portofensive nks-from which Antlion are unceasingly lexuing forkla over the ground and through the air.
Finally, remarkable' sa 10-must seemn when we look back on the past epochs of war, this new and deadly method of conquest sprang to life on Decemiper 17, 10, when near Kill Devil HiFi, Kitty Hawk, in North Carolina, Orville WEIRDU. U power drives -- aispięcie flew for it becbride.