Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

Page 15 text:

FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR 1936-1937 Also if we are attacked, are we not members of the British Empire, and would not Great Britain protect us ? Clt' we are attacked we run to the Motherlandg otherwise, well,f we are just like a little bird learning to Hy YJ, and again owing TO THE GEO- GRAPHIC,-XI. POSITION OF OUR COUNTRY, is it not practically impossible for a foreign power to attack us P This is the attitude adopted by a great number of people who do not wish Canada to arm, and by people who do not reckon any moral obligations. But these seemingly sound, although selfish, reasons are not really so sound. In other words the people who are against armaments claim that our safeguards are, CID Great Britain ll? The I'nited States 435 Our geographical position. But is it fair of us to depend on England for support when we are not willing, it seems, to help our- selves ? I think that the least Canada should do, if she expects Great Britain to help her, is to build an efficient if small air force, to patrol our shores in the event of hostil- ities, not necessarily to protect them but to :ICI as an auxiliary to the British Navy. Canada, some say, depends on the bnited States for assistance in the event of foreign aggression. There is one thing which these people who rely on the States perhaps forget, or don't wish to realize, and that is, if the bnited States were to help us, it would be because it was in their interest to do so, and not because they felt any maternal love towards us. Suppose some countries attempted to cut Canadzfs trade routes, without which Canada would soon be bankrupt, would the United States find it in their interests to help us P and if so would they, seeing that during the Great YYar they were unable to protect their own ship- ping, now be able to protect ours as well as their own ? This seems highly unlikely, and therefore we would be left with our only hope, the British Navy. If, as it therefore seems, we must depend on the British Navy, would it not be a good idea to fortify a few ports on our Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, to serve as bases during any hostilities, and would not a small air-force be of great value to the navy ? Although I may have wandered a little from the subject I feel sure that Canada's defence problems form a very interesting subject. At the present moment all the countries of any importance are taking part in an immense armaments race, as if their very existence depended on the outcome, as indeed perhaps it does, and Britain has this year taken the lead. Great Britain fully armed is the world's greatest guarantee of peace. Germany seems to be waiting for a favourable opportunity to annex a portion of Czecho-Slovakia, while Mussolini has already shown his intention to build another Roman Empire, but now that he has taken Ethiopia he may quieten down for a little while. Sometimes armaments are very dangerous in times of peace. In such countries as Germany and Italy, where the economic structure of the country is not very sound, a little of the pressure incurred by the expense of armaments has to be let off, as in the case of Italy which, to ease the pressure, made war on Ethiopia. Germany is at the present moment not in a very good state of economic security, and there is a severe shortage of food in the country. This predicament of Germany's, and the way she will take out of it, have been causing the major powers as well as the lesser ones a great deal of anxiety. There are large chances that war-like events may take place in the near future on the continent. Some time ago, as everyone knows, a civil war started in Spain, on one side was the rightful Spanish socialistic government, and on the other was an extremely strong force of insurgent Fascisti. llll

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SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE Les Canayens are fast as deer, Le Marounn club is full of fear: Two goals in First part, tree in nex', Marounn look like dey break deir necksg :Xurel -loliat an' old Buswell, Dem are de men dat mak' me yell. Old Conacher sure be tough man, But not when Gagnon give him bang: Wit' crash agains' de boards he lan', Den Baldy Nort'cott show his fang: De Frenchies, dey beat us, my fran': Six goals at leas' from us l he sang. Canuck fans scream: .-X shut-out game l :Xnd les Anglais: Klarounn, you're lame l De Canayens are kin' all right, Dey let Marounns win out one night, An' now dey got a live goal gainq Marounn fans sure have got a pain l lXI.C., lForm SJ. iii you want 1Beacz prepare for Ear This saying, dating back to the days of the Romans, is still the subject of much controversy to-day, and as yet no one has been able to prove or disprove it. After the World War the policy of disarmament was adopted by the Great Powers with the results which we all know - the present rearmament race. :X policy of disarmament, if adopted and followed by the major countries of the world, would undoubtedly reduce the risks of warg but there are always countries like Germany which, when no-one is looking, will turn and start to re-arm, thus we see the real reason why disarmament is likely to fail, - the inherent distrust of some great nations for one another. The government of Great Britain seems to believe the maxim which forms the title of this article, judging by the immense sum of S7,500,000,000 which is the defence estimate for the next live years fsubject to increasel. The nearly -10,000,000 dollars which Canada is preparing to spend looks very small in comparison, but there are many people in Canada who claim that the country does not need more armanents, and the arguments put forth by these people are: - What are the armaments for ? .-Xre they to protect Canada from a foreign power F And, il so, what power P Are they to protect Canada from the States ? If so, they are surely useless, as it is hardly conceivable that any sum of money which Canada is able to spend on armaments would enable her to protect a 3,500 mile border from a country with a population over ll times as large as that of Canada, and of far superior armaments. Or thirdly, are these armaments to enable Canada to help England in a war occurring at some future time F Surely no foreign power is going to attack Canada when the linited States would help us, preferring us to a possibly antagonistic country as a neighbour. llfll

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SFLWYN HOUSE SCHOOL M.-XG.-XZLNI-L The war seemed likely to end in a smashing victory for the government in a very short time, but interference came from an unlooked for quarter. Germany and Italy, the two strong Fascist powers, started to send munitions, supplies, and soldiers to the aid of the rebels, and socialistic Russia, following this example, did likewise for the govern- ment. Thus a comparatively unimportant civil war began to take on foreboding aspects for the l'est of the world. The situation which, if it arises, might make war imminent is this: f If the govern- ment defeats the insurgents with the help of Soviet Russia, there will be a communistic state to the south of France. France has a very strong communistic faction, as has Bel- gium. It' there was a communistic victory to the south, it might lead to a communistic revolution in lfrance and Belgium. If such an event took place, Germany would, if the revolution was successful, be in a very unenviable position, having a communistic block surrounding her, and therefore to protect herself from such a position might march her armies into lfrance in the middle of the chaos resulting from the revolution. Such an action would bring Soviet Russia into the conHict because of her treaty with lfrance, and the chances are that a world contlagration might ensue. Although at the present uncertain time armaments are a deciding factor of peace, in the long run collective security is the only sure and sane way thereto. D.R.C., ll5orm Yi. lust in the Blungls VYhen I was exploring in the equatorial regions of Brazil I met with several excit- ing incidents. But the one that I remember the most vividly is the time I got lost with two other men. It was the 20th Jan. 1392 when I left Montreal in an old-fashioned train for what would be now called old-fashionedl for the South. .-Xt that time there was no Panama Canal, so I went across the Isthmus to South America. I was going to explore the un- known regions of Brazil lor rather unknown to the civilized worldl with two of my friends and two helpers. XYe arrived in Brazil on the 27th -lan. 1392. Our expedition started three days later from Barra Do Rio Negro, a place on the Negro River. We worked our way south- wards to the unexplored regions. Wihen we got well into the jungle our little band of five was attacked by hostile Indians known as the Parintintins, but we were fortunately in a good position to meet them, so after we had killed a few they began to retreat. But we hailed them Kfor I had on my way learnt a little of their languagel to come back, for we were friends. They came back, and soon we were before their chief, who was very kind to us. He traded with us, for we had brought some things to trade with them. He also offered us a night's lodging which we readily accepted, but I had suspected them, so that night we all got away without anyone seeing us. We ran through the jungle not knowing where we were going because it was so dark. Then we rested till morning. The next morning we woke up and found that we were in just an ordinary .iungleq the place swarmed with biting ants, flies, and other infectious things. llll