I SSklADVENTURERS’
CLUB
“Nearly the Last Round-V/>"
By FLOYD GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter.
A VAST there, mates! I mean “Hold ’em, cowboy!'
Gosh, I don't know what kind of lingo a sea-cowboy uses, but 1
know the kind I would have used if I’d been aboard the cattleboat
S. S. Winefredian, in mid-Atlantic, that wild March night with Petet
Alullan and 700 head of plunging, terrified cattle.
Pete came so close to going on the Last Itound-l'p or to Davy Jones' locket
that It wasn't funny. Incidentally the S. S. Winefredian has since slipped quietly
down the stays to Davy Jones’ locker, so maybe she was just playing a re
iiearsal for Pete.
fattleboats, Pete says, are not exactly floating palaces. In fact, they’re gen
erully made-over tubs.
The Winefredian was no exception to the rule. Her under-decks
were just a mass of cattle stalls with a narrow passage—just wide
enough to allow a man to pass—running the length of the ship.
Pete, two other greenhorn cattlemen and an underforeman were nursemaids
to the steers on the ship, and this Isn't such a bad way to earu a trip to Europe
—unless you hit a bad storm. And then It's awful.
Old Ship Groans Under Waves.
The storm hit the cattleboat when she was out in the middle of the Atlantic
ocean, and the old ship groaned, plunged and rolled on her beam ends at ar,
alarming angle.
The crowded cattle—seasick and mad with terror—shrieked and
kicked at every pitcn of the ship, and Pete says it was plain bedlam be
tween decks.
But, storm or no storm, the helpless beasts had to be taken care of and
Pete and his shipmates were right down among them doing the best they could
Monster waves plunged In through the open upper-deek hatch and the met
and cattle swished around knee-deep In sea water.
Now if you’ve never been on a cattleboat you are probably wonder.
Ing why they didn't close the hatch and keep the water out, but the
trouble with that is that it also keeps the air out, and if you’ve ever
been on one of those loaded beef ferries you know what that means.
The stench and heat from the tightly packed steers would kill a man with
a gas-mask on!
Giant Wave Threatens Death to All.
So the hatch was left open and the water poured In and the good ship wal
lowed in the high seas like a ham-strung calf at a rodeo.
It was four o'clock In the morning, Pete says, when the crisis came. The
men were ladling out fresh water to the frantic cattle when a monster wave
slapped the weary side of the ship and Pete thought It was all over.
Pete was standing in the narrow passage-way with his mates when
that wave struck. The ship keeled over to a 45-degree angle and flung
the cattle in heaps to the port side of their stalls.
She paused there ns though trying to decide whether or not to turn bottom
side up, and then righted herself and dipped almost as far on the starboard side!
Wham! Those tons of living steaks shot-the-shoots across their stalls and
bit the detaining bars with a deafening crash.
Some of the stalls held, but tome of them didn't, and when Pete got
to hie feet and looked around him he forgot all about tha atorm, for
coming right at him along the narrow passage-way WAS CERTAIN
DEATH!
Now a stampede on dry land Is about as dangerous a thing aa you can find,
A Stampede at Sea U Really Something.
and I for one don’t want any part of It, but a stampede at sea—In a storm—I*
really something to write home at>out.
Pete says It was a sight he will never forget. The maddened steers—Insane
with terror—came splashing along the passage-way at amazing speed—tongues
hanging out of their open mouths and eyes starting out of their heads.
Men and Cattle Caught in Death-Trap.
One of the leaders fell, but the rest never paused as they trampled him to
death In the foam beneath their pounding hoofs.
Pete let out a yell and tried to get out of the way, but the foreman
was in front of him, and the foreman was a fat man and hi* slow-mov
ing bulk completely filled the patsage-way.
Pete says he felt like a rat In a trap—those few seconds that he stood there
unable to move one way or the other.
The foreman was an old-timer nnd when he hurdled over a barrier Into a
stall he saved not only his own life but Pete's, because as he Jumped he felt the
hot breath of the leading steer on his cheek.
Well, sir, jumping Into one of those narrow stalls with a frantic steer for
a cabin mate was like jumping from the frying pan Into the Are.
Every time the boat rocked the eteer would go careening danger
ously around—smashing against one tide and then the other—with
Pete doing hie best to keep his feet.
One false step on that slippery floor and this story would never
have been told.
Luckily for Pete and his shipmates not as many of the cattle had escaped
as It seemed.
Sea Was Singing “Last Round-Up.”
The bellowing procession down the passage-way was only about ten strong,
and when It passed the men all jumped back out of the stalls and waded after
their charges.
That chase rambled all over the ship, and If you want some excitement, Pete
says, try rounding up cattle on a ship at sea.
Every time the cowboys would corner one of the critters, why that
floating pasture would turn on end and men and cattle would slide kick
ing into the scuppers. Those big waves, Pete says, sure seemed to be
singing “The Last Round-Up" for him.
But the storm finally eased up and the cattle were rounded up and led back
to their repaired stalls with no serious casualties to the men.
There were a lot of broken legs, however, among the steers.
The animals were destroyed to end their suffering, and as the " ship
Steadied on her path they were burled at sea.
And so, boys and girls, ends the saga.
C—WNU Servlos
Is the Vast British Empire Breaking Up?
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
KING GEOBOE V's silver Jubi
lee. now at Its height In
England, has formed an In
nocent, If world wide, Insti
tution for propagandizing the unity
and extent of the British Empire. No
one, certainly, questions Its extent
But there are those among the politi
cal economists of the day who at least
suggest that the far-flung realm shows
signs of breaking apart, and when the
real test comes, If It ever does, they
may be right.
•‘Itecent developments In South Af
rica have again made people ask
whether the British Empire Is break
ing up," writes Fred Clarke, English
educator and former representative of
the Union of South Africa at Geneva,
in Current History Magazine. “With
out attempting to answer that question,
one can have no doubt as to the Im
portance of the status of the Union
act, which received royal assent on
June 22, 1934. This new law has a
bearing on the whole future of Brit
ish imperial unity.”
The status art contains the first defi
nite official reference of the crown to
the union as “a sovereign Independent
state.” Its accompanying seal act gives
the exclusive right of use of the Great
Seal and Little Seal, heretofore held
hy the king, to the South African min
isters.
For more thau a quarter of a cen
tury South Africa, politically, has been
torn bitterly between two political fac
tions as directly opposed as our New
Dealers and rugged individualists.
They were led by General Smuts, right
hand man of General Botha in the
Union government which arose a few
years after the South African war,
and General Hertzog, a minister In
the Botha cabinet who was removed
In 1912, two years after the cabinet
was formed.
General Smuts and his faction open
ly considered the Union a definite
part of the Empire, with British civi
lization and culture dominant. Ilert
zog sympathizers held out against the
complete social, cultural and political
domlntvlon of the Boer population by
the British, and have always striven to
make the Union a separate and Inde
pendent nation.
The present status of the Union has
been effected ns a sort of political
compromise between the two generals
and their respective parties. The
Union Is undeniably independent now,
with merely “allegiance to the crown,"
the string politically tying it to Great
Britain. And the two parties have
fused Into one.
They Get Together.
It Is Interesting to note that the
coalition of the parties came about
because their differences became so
bitter after England went olT the gold
standard In 1931 that party leaders
decided that unity and compromise
would be the only means of averting
hopeless Internal political strife. Im
agine Mr. Koosevelt and, say, Mr. Hoo
ver, getting together before a political
campaign and straightening out their
differences!
General Hertzog's nationalist party,
which was in power in 1031, preferred
to keep South Africa on the gold stand
ard, believing that England had
stepped ofT only temporarily, and that
maintaining the standard would help
General Smute.
to stabilize a leading industry of South
Africa, gold raining. Other interests
Buffered badly, and General Smuts'
South African party accused the In
cumbents of pampering the political
Interests always prone to take the op
posite line from the empire, Jeopardiz
ing the interests of the Union in gen
eral thereby.
It was conceded that If General
Smuts could force an election at that
time, he would have more than un
even chance of winning, but that he
could not do ao without stirring up
the smoldering embers of racial con
flict between Boers (or, rather, the
present-day Afrlknandrrs) and Britons,
an animosity that had been admirably
glibdued in the preceding decades by
wise government.
To youth of South Africa really goes
the credit for coalition. Young men
of both partiea know the sentimental
and romantic racial dissentiona mere
ly as historical traditions, not as real
loyalties and convictions. It was
they whose insistence that these dif
ferences be wiped out once and for
all Impressed the nation with the ne
cessity for taking up the real business
at hand—that of administering good
government. As a result of the coal
ition, the status act, satisfactory In
the main to both parties, was effected.
Boers in Opposition.
The Boer in South Africa has long
opposed the out-and-out political domi
nance of the Union by London, as pro
posed by the Briton, for fear of los
ing his Identity. South Africa Is a
region of two separate and powerful
cultures, and Its people speak two
languages. There Is, of course, the
English with which we are more or
less familiar. And there Is the Dutch
offspring, Afrikaans.
The New Deal for South Africa paci
fies both factions by fostering both
cultures. F.ducntlon Is administered In
both. Newspapers and magazines are
published In both languages.
That the status act, with Its admis
sion of South Africa’s virtually abso
lute Independence, applies as well to
all of the British Dominions, Is Im
plied In the fact that It Includes in Its
preamble the Balfour declaration ob
tained by General Hertzog when he
headed the nationalist government of
1924. This calls the Dominions “au
tonomous communities within the
British Umpire, equal In status, In no
way subordinate one to another in
any respect of their domestic or exter
nal affairs, though united by a com
mon allegiance to the crown, and free
ly associated as members of the Brit
ish Common wealth of Nations.”
Further removing British political
dominance from the Dominions was
the Statute of Westminster, which
was passed by the British parliament
In 1931. It closely allied the consti
tutional development of the other Do
minions of the empire with that of
the Union of South Africa. The Bal
four declaration and the Statute of
Westminster nre masterpieces of
phraseology which carried soothing
balm to both South African factions.
The status act Is the application of
them to the South African constitution.
Two Important concessions are made
to the Dominions In the Statute of
Westminster. It gives the Dominion
government power to amend, repeal
or modify any British act which has
been Incorporated in the law of the
Dominion. It further states that no
British law may be applied to any Do
minion unless that Dominion has re
quested the application and consented
to It.
Really Independent.
The status act Itself declares that
no British legislation shall be consid
ered in effect in the Union of South
Africa until it is re-enncted by the
South African parliament. The "chief
executive’’ is defined ns the king, who
shall act upon the advice of his South
African ministers.
In South Africa the king’s represent
ative Is the governor-general. Neither
he nor the king have any powers of
veto or reservation of a bill. The gov
ernor-general may, however, simply re
turn a bill witli his opinion for further
consideration if he thinks it wise.
Tlie king does not retain the power
to name the prime minister and to dis
solve parliament.
The cnse of war would be the real
test. For. with the clearly worded
status act, the Union of South Africa
can now decide for itself whether or
not to remain neutral If the empire
enters a war. Says Clarke:
"It might even secede altogether,
though not apparently, by legal proc
ess. Some commentators in England
as well as in South Africa feel dis
turbed by these possibilities. But
•equal status’ necessarily implies them,
and legal barriers would be flimsy de
fenses against the strong political pres
sures when the time of crisis comes.”
It will be remembered that when
England entered the World war there
was widespread dissension In South
Africa, and even serious uprisings in
some cases. Clarke goes on:
“Neutrality and secession are po
litical issues, to be determined In the
light of all the facts when the ques
tion arises. They are not to be de
termined In advunce, ns some of the
die-hard lawyers seemed to demand, by
any constitutional legislation, espe
cially legislation under such docu
ments as the Balfour declaration and
the Statute of Westminster."
Tht Ties That Bind.
The abolition of the prerogative pow
er of the king aroused the anguish of
the pro-British faction In South Africa.
Tills faction claimed that in the time
of crisis the king was the executive
head of the entire British Empire, and
that he could act ns he saw lit In case
of a crisis, In order to keep the realm
General Hertzog.
from falling apart. General Smuts
was able to convince his followers
that for centuries no such prerogative,'
If there was one, had been exercised,
and that the question was not one of
law, but of politics.
Of course, what the economists who
cite the status act ns evidence that the
British Empire is disintegrating fall to
show Is that political power or legal
power are not the real bands which
hold the Empire together. Experience
has taught us that In time of war
nations do not act on the literal in
terpretation of the law. The ties that
bind are more substantial. In the case
of the Britisli Imperial Dominions they
are the ndvantnges of free trade with
in the Empire and the protection of
the British fleet. The Union of South
Africa would be an easy mark Indeed
for an invading force were It not for
the protection of the greatest fleet in
the world. It Is extremely doubtful
thnt the Union would ever want to for
sake such a protection.
With Its constitutional status now
more clearly defined thnn ever before,
the Union of South Africa Is ready it
self to begin expanding. It would like
to annex the adjacent protectorates of
Beckuanaland, Swaziland and Basuto
land, which are now governed under
the Dominions office In London. When
the Union was formed In 1900, the con
stitution provided for the eventual In
clusion of these territories.
Their population, however, Is 99 per
cent black, and they were left out of
the original Union and kept under di
rect London protection because of the
treatment they had received at the
hands of the Boers who made up a
large share of the Union population.
When, last year, Prime Minister
Hertzog announced to Great Britain,
that the Union of South Africa was
ready to act Immediately to Include
the protectorates, his act drew an In
stant appeal from Chief Tshekedl
Khnma of Bechunnaland. British ad
ministration to the protectorates hns
not been all that It might be, but na
tives and native sympathizers believs
that It Is better than the discrinii
natlon which might harm them st the
hands of the Boers.
• Weitcrn N*w«psp«r Unloa,