The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-10-01
LABOR SHOWSSTRENGTH
 FOR ELECTIONS
Mot a Man, Not a Ship, Not a Gun" Was Labor's Reply to Lloyd Georges
 Turkish Call
By NORMAN II. WATSON


 (CoOyriEht. 1929. by The Ags-Hsraldl/
 London, September 30.-British labor unions now are more powerful than Parliament, says the president of famous English college, and can stop or prevent war. He added an academic "alas!" being anti-labor Unionists themselves are not so sure, but their party, which is busy pre- pairing for the victory confidently expected at the polls a year or two hence, did, and is exploiting to the full, the situation consequent upon the mess in the near east.
 The first response to the war'ike announcement of the cabinet was that of labor, and 1t was: Not man, not ship, not a gum" Lead CTS were organizing Stop the-war" meetings before the ink had dried on headlines announcing the new crisis.
 Nobody thought the war sugges- tion would be received enthusiasti- caHy but the intensity of the situa- toin must have been disagreeable for Lloyd George and his cabinet. The crisis, says pro government paper, Is not in the near east, but at home!
 The cabinet deliberately beat the war drum so that a tableau Of im- perial solidarity might be shown those who needed reminding; 1t is the reverse that Renal and Lenine-and Poincare see displayed for them.
 The labor party, which has already named 400 candidates for the next general elections did not think war actually imminent. But 1t decided to stop 1t anyway for the effect on the voters.
 Talk of War
 It was by parliamentary author ity that the cost of preparations to resist a Turkish attempt to cross the straits will reach something like $250, 900, ,00o
 Rumors of war sent food prices up only slightly it is true, but discour- aging enough after weeks of assur- ance that the fall would bring a general reduction.
 Food prices and taxes are even more topics of general conversations than predictions that if war were to begin it would inevitably spread to the Balkans, Mesopotamia, Pales. tine and Egypt-and farther.
 War talk has crowded from the news the trade agreement between the soviet government and the Russo Asiatic Consolidated company, one of the biggest industrial organizations in the world, which now controls practically the whole of Russia's non-ferrous metal industry, nearly TO per cent of her copper production. all of her zinc and lead output and over 20 per cent of her gold produc- tion. not to mention millions of acres of land, railways, factories and coal mines. But developments are being narrowly watched by Englishmen who were In business in Russia be- fore the revolution. Applications for jobs from some thousands of them have already been received at the Russo -Asiatic offices in London, and places will be found for many o- them.
 Leslie Urquhart, head of the or ganization, is very optimistic In an article printed by the observer he declares that while practically all of the other British enterprises in Rus sia are at the end of their tether, an advance of no more than $75,000,00 by the government would restore all of them to full pre-wa activities. It would involve full recognition of the soviet. but that he thinks inevitable and better now than later.
 Cites Russia
 He urges his fellow countrymen to get in quick Russia Is inexhaus- tible and indestructable, and the signs are not wanting that already, even beneath the accumulated miser- ies of the past five years, her invet- crate resilient impulse her tremen- dous recuperative power, is begin ming to gather strength and confi- dence. Do people realize what it means that Russia should again be self supporting? The harvest this year. for the first time since the revolution, will be sufficient to sup port her domestic needs. A year or two hence we may again be self supporting? The harvest this year, for the first time since the revolu- tion will be sr..iceent to supply her domestic needs. A year or two hence we may again see her exporting agri- cultural produce on something not so very uuuCu pcioW thS p1u PAo-N ai scale; and Russias export of wheat used to be, and will be again, first of all factors in stabilizlng prices and making 1t possible for the world to live within it's income.
 But that Is not all The Russian peasant is now on higher standard of living than before, he needs a greater variety and amount of manu- factured articles. He will need in unprecedented quantities the goods that British factories are peculiarly