1940-01-09 — Page 24

4

HONGKONG TELEGRAPH

January, 9, 1940.

Tuesday,

CROWNS

A DINNER

GOOD

'Prest-O-Lite"

"E"

Fatti Cik

Brown Brandy

AFMG CaLoubi Loy King Cha Responia a 3041

Justled in Pegos mama

A. S.

WATSON'S

"E"

FINE OLD BROWN

BRANDY

14.

DISTILLED BOTTLED and MATURED

IN COGNAC, FRANCE, BY RENAULT

WATSON

WINE DEPT.

ET CIE

FOR

& CO., LTD.

TEL, 20616.

Batteries

Automotive Types

Prest-O-Lite

One of the oldest

names

In Automotive History--and of the most honoured.

one

First of all every Prest-0- Lite is a good battery-the " lowest cost per mite or zmonth of service.

THE FINEST OF QUALITY BATTERIES

Obtainable at the

Hongkong Hotel

Garage

SHOWROOM

STRAFE BRITAIN

NORTH SEA OFFENSIVE.

BALKAN

PUSH

WESTERN FRON BLITZKRIEG

"GARRARD "

THE WORLD'S PERFECT INTERMINGLED

ALL

RECORD CHANGER

MODELS IN STOCK

PRICES FROM $65.00

SOLE DISTRIBUTORS:

S. MOUTRIE & CO., LTD.

YORK BUILDING

NEW

ISSUE

CHATER ROAD.

The MARCH OF TIME

The story of the movies-

yesterday, to-day and to-morrow!

THE

MOVIES

MARCH

ON!

Now the March of Time recaptures the past 40 glorious years of the screen—its heroes and heroines live again !

See how Hollywood works to-day. its future.

Look into

Here are the screen's most memorable moments

its greatest drama-thrills-laughs.

It's great entertainment—more than 30 stars

i.

all in one show!

SHOWING

TO-MORROW

AT THE

! ALHAMBRA

PHOTOGRAPHS of the children become increasingly-precious with the passing years. They, too, in later years, will appreciate the record of their childhood.

MEE

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO-DAY

CHEUNG.

PHOTOGRAPHERS 15, 23, Ice Hours Street, Tel. 26379.

Stubbs Rd,

The

Phone 27778/9,

THongkong Telegraph.

Tuesday, January 9, 1940.

Wyndhan St., Hongkong

Telephone: 20015

TE prefix perial to the Telegraph" is used by the tongkong Telegraph to Indicate news which is sitielty copyright under the provisions of the Telecontinani- catlins Ordinaser, 1934. Such new w bears the fudication "Up" is received In Wongkong on the date of publication by The United Press Assoelștiunt, who res serve all rights and forbid republication. either wholly or in part without previous arrangement,

War Spending

J. M. Keynes, the English" economist, has been putting up a proposition for paying for the war which, at first sight, looks like conjuror's device for enabling everyone to hand over money to the State and yet have It sufely in the banks for future

uge.

મા

The position broadly is this : when a country is al war a great part of its effort goes into fight ing and making war goods, and therefore less effort is available" for producing ordinary consump tion goods-the nation's cou "sumption must be reduced

The reduction may be affected by taking away some of its earnings by taxation, so that it must spond less; or by raising prices, so that it does not get so much for its money. Both methods if pressed far have their draw- backs.

So Mr. Keynes suggests n third method which would counteract the tendency for prices to rise, and would yet- leave the worker with some part at least of his surplus earnings credited to him for future-use. Employers would deduct a cer- tain percentage of wages and in- comes from ali payments due to employees and hand it over to the State. The Treasury would then deal with the necounts, Those who were liable for in- come tax would have the amount withdrawn from their credit,

N

AGITATED ADOLF'S WINTER

PRODUCTION

The Scene Shifters: "For Gott's sake, boss, make up sner mind. Which scene do we start with ?"

WHY HITLER

HESITATES

O real ray of light

yet penetrates

the

fog of this strange new war.

The war strategy of the Allies is. It is true, clear enough, and on the whole thoroughly com- mendable. It has from the beginning been directed to avolding large wastage of life in attacks against strongly forti- fed positions. It is the strategy of siege warfare, not of an attempt at n knock-out blow- whellier by land or air.

It is the German reaction which provides the mystery of the war.

Here are threats piled upon threats, but so far hardly any action at all. Instead of the blitz- 1 confusion Krieg

expected, there

In and inactivity..

kplace of the waves of attacking planes which each one of us anticipated, thero is a spray of propaganda, which dashes Itself to nothingness against the rock of fact.

Why is this? What is happen- ing inside Germany to explain this fallure of German arma even to attempt any decisive action?

There seem to me to be four possible explanations, Here they are:

(1) German inactivity may be A quite deliberate and considered policy of political war.

As I pointed out in one of my previous

articles, military weekly and political weapons are, for Herr Filtler. interchangeable-he em- plays whichever seems most likely to achieve his purpose.

And it is possible that he stu considers that if Germany takes no decisive action, and particularly no decisive action against civilian populations, Britain and France will got tired of making a war

and the balance would be cred Civil Defence

ited to them at 2 per cent, to be repayable after the war.

The plan reveals itself as one for compulsory lending to the State. But there is much to be said for the method by which the loan would be raised, Whether people like it or not, thrift must be practised during the war, and here is a way of simplifying it and using it for the beneft of the State. It has the advantage of proventing over-consumption at a time when there will be little or no un- employment, and reserving con- suming power for a time when it will be most needed-after the war, when there will be danger of sovere unemployment. This is not to say that the danger of these savings being hit by post- war inflation can be ruled out. But if a simple means can be found for directing a nation's war spending on sound lines, that fe just what is wanted in Britain today.

Achievements 2,000,000 Shelters Now Ready

GLASGOW, Jan. 8 (Reuter) -

forined subject of a speech here by the Civil Defence organisations man responsible for them-Sir Jolin Anderson, the Home Secretary and Minister for Home Security..

What fa called a lil may be the full before the storm, he sold, and a wise man sees that his home is in

order before the storm breaks over it. Civil defence organisations were by no means excessive, considering the tasks they may have to meet when an attack from the air comey. He was more concerned with whether or not they were suficient.

By the end of this month, 2,000,000 steel aholters will have been pro- vided, affording prolection to over 11,000,000 people in the most vulner-

able arena.

LONDON, Jan. 6 (Reuter)-The Labour Party and Trade Union Gen- oral Council, of Finland, havo, invited the British Labour Movement to send a representative to Finland to study the situation therente

by Francis Williams

which has no batties and will, in the end, allow it to dle of its own inertia, leaving Germany still in possession of Csecto-Slovakia and her part of Poland.

Hitler may have studied the his- tory of Sanctions against Italy and remember that after a period of not very whole-hearted action, thero camo a time when Mr. Nevlile Chamberlain announced that Sanctions had become mid- summer madness. They were ended and Italy remained with her Abys ainia prizo.

Ho

may

think wrongly, I con- sider that if he blues his time and does nothing very much, history will repent itself, and that Mr. Chamberlain will make another speech and that another act of aggression will have been allowed to succeed.

(2) The absence of a German attack may be dus to inability to allack effectively against strong defences,

The Air Force which has hung as a threat over Europa for 60 many years, may have been largely blaff and may not, in fact, be com petent to undertake engagements which will involve it in a clash with arat-rate opponents.

And the Army may be in- too sumielently equipped, have

a proportion of fully trained amall men, and be unable to rely upon an efficient enough transport system to make it possible for it to risk any large engagement.

(3 There may be dissensions so neute within Germany that the regime dare not risk a major war operation.

It may not dare risk it for fear

that it shall provide the cover for a major internal revolt-elther with- in the Nazi Party itself or on the initiativo of a monarchist-Army group, or possibly although at the present stage this seems not very probable within the mass of be wildered ordinary people.

(4) Indecision may be due to a brainstorm on the part of Hitler himself,

The feeling that he is being thwarted by Britain and France may, for the time being, have upset the balance of a mind never very stable.

Opposition to his will has always driven Hitler into a frenzy. If to this is added the effect of the Munich bomb plot, it may be that the Fuehrer is in no condition to come to any decisions himself und that none of his entourage has the courage to make decisions for him other than the makeshift deel- sich to all in the gap with loud threats.

the, war were called off without There is cther evi- further ado. dence of the same kind.

Yet auch an explanation does not square elther with the bursts of hate propaganda, or with what

at

one time to have been very near to a decision to attack Holland.

In

seems

favour of the second explana- tion is the definite fallure of the derman air attacks on Scotland, of tho

percentage very high casualties and the accumulating evidence that the German Fighters nro inferior to both the British and French.

Yet it is difficult to belleve that the leaders of a great military machine like the German would admit inferiority aimply on such evidence and without the test of a really large scale action.

As to the dissension within Gor- many, there was evidence of that before the Munich bomb showed the pitch to which hatred of Hitler has risen among some, at any rate,' of those near to him.

And finally we have plenty of evidence over a long period of the unstable nature of the German Leader of the passion into which Which of these possible explana-opposition to his will throws him

tions of German inactivity is the most likely to be correct? very dificult to say.

It la

There is some evidenco to rup- port each of them.

In support of the first is the fact that the one constant theme of German radio propaganda in English has been-apart from dis- like for Mr. Churchill-that this is an absurd war. Again and again comes the attempt to persuade the people of Britain that none of thel real interests is affected, and that it would be better for everybody II

GRIN AND BEAR IT

and of how queerly balanced in him are periods of indecision and of sudden political fair and de- cision.

Reports of a contemplated at- tack, first in this direction and then in that, the mixture of con- cillation and hate in propaganda, all suggest that he is in one of these moods of indecision now,

I so we must not expect that indecision to last indefinitely. 'Nor, if we are wise, will we under- estimate the power and energy of Herr Hitler when he does make up his mind, Horo

then are four possible_ex-

By Lichtyplanations of the mystery of Ger-

many's inactivity. My own feeling is that it la something of all four which holds Germany back.

Hitler, I think, has not yet quite made up his mind that the ern, of victories without war is over; ho has been shaken in his hopes of a lightning war by his generals reparts

on: the ·comparativo strength of the German forces: and still more shaken by the knowledge of plots against him. In consequence he 18

at the moment in a mood of hysteria which makes, decision Impossible,

No doubt that mood will DANNE But while it lasts wa gain. Every day increases our output of arms? every day Improves further, our already strong Ale Force.

And within Germany Inde- cision at the top must be havİNKƏ A crushing effect upon the morals of the mines.

We must not fall into the danger of over-conndence, nor delude.eui solves that Naslam will be defeated without

But we may at any rate Farstulate on selves

early days democracy