In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 102, 4 May 1929, Page 26

In the Public Eye

Dame Madge Kendal. In the quietest possible manner Dame Madge Kendal, one of the greatest of the Victorian actresses, celebrated her eighty-first ijirthdav in her pretty Londo"n flat on 315 th March last. ' Dame Madge, who still retains much of the and vivac-

iiy which made her famous at the ;ige of, .10, does not believe in champagne birthday parties. She saw to the arrangements for the very quiet celebrations or her birthday, l.ut only a !irl<" shopping tour l,::d to be made. ui-n -me

i.r two od.U ..n'l ends purchased. -''Birthdays aiv \ commonplace iiiVairs." s!:v <::•.. "Everybody who exists has liii-iii. ; .-r. -■ and I fail to sue why mine should a: tract attention. But there, 1 (•.•numt help it now, can I.' 1 am thankful to say that I am feeling fairly well. I shall celebrate my nirtlulay very quietly and very privately. When I* am 100 there may be a little festival." Asked by a reporter from one of the London dailies for her opinions of the presentday stage. Dame Madge said: "Well, in spite of what some people say, 1 think it is quite good. The best of productions at present are 'The Lady of the Lamp' and 'Journey's End.' " Of pre-sent-day fashions she holds very definite views. "The tendency among women to-day," she said, "is to try and follow men. The3 r try to look like men and dress like men. This is absurd, and my birthday message to such women is that it is a great mistake." Expressing her views on modern life, particularly the stage, she said: "Things are so different now. In the old days we used to eat our breakfast, write letters, and then continue with any other work. Everything was done properly and in its sequence. Now it is all rush. Oh, that people would, remember that breakfast at nine is much better than at three in early morning. In nly young days I spent all the time I could at the theatre. When we were not on the stage we would be cheering and helping in any way ive could the actors and actresses who were on. We always helped and cheered each other. There was an esprit de corps, but now " And Dame Madge shook her head. "We lived in the theatre. At dinner we dis••ussed prawns and shrimps, and how to ])lay 'Hamlet.' All actors and actresses seemed to have the same mutual interest; wo were so jolly—just like a jolly family."

The Earl of Plymouth. When the High Commissioner for New Zealand held Ms annual Dominion dinner in London on 10th April, ho invited many notable guests to be present, including many men ■who have political as well as business association with New Zealand.

One of the most important men coming under tho first-named category was the Earl of Plymouth, who was present at the dinner as Under-Secret a r y "or the Dominions, In this office ho succeeded Lord Lovat early in the present year, the

latter being appointed chairman of the Overseas Settlement Committee. As Viscount Windsor, the Earl sat as Unionist II.P. for the Ludlow Division of Shropshire from January, 1022, to March, 1923, when ho succeeded his father in the title. In 1925 he was appointed captain of the Hon. Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms in succession to the Duke of Clarendon, who resigned the post for family reasons. The Earl of Plymouth still holds the post, ono of the oldest and most important in tliu United Kingdom so far. as personal attendance on the Iving is concerned. It is refprred to as the "nearest guard," the personal escort of the Sovereign, and '.vas created by Henry VIII. at his accession in 1009. It is said to have been formed along ■the same lines as the French "Pensionnaires"—retainers of noble birth who were the predecessors of the Jlaison dv Eoi. With the rise of the professional soldier and the corresponding disuse of arms by gentry and nobility, the Gentle-men-at-Arms retained their noble character, but became- less and less military, until to-day their services arc only claimed as part of the pageantry of special. State functions, though it is an essential for membership of the corps that the candidate should be a military officer of the regular services, and that he should have received a war decoration. The office of captain, however, is political, the holder (who is always a peer) vacating it on the resignation of the Government of which he is a member. The Earl of Plymouth, who succeeded his father in 1923, is now 40 years old. He married Lady Irene Charteris, a daughter of the Earl of Wemyss, in 1921, and they have one. son and one daughter.

Viscount Minoru Saito. During, the deliberations which have been taking place for the past week or so at Geneva in regard to naval limitation generally and the peace of the world in particular, Japan has been represented by one of her greatest admirals, Viscount

Minoru Snito. He was born a commoner at Iwata Ken in 185S, but was made a baron in 1007, and was further raised in the peerage as a viscount in 1!)2j. Viscount Saito joined the Japanese Navy in JS73, and by reason of his

natural ability it was not long before he was well on'the road to promotion. The discipline of Hie Japanese Navy, strict as it was, still left much to be desired, and when he was promoted captain in 189S, he declared his intention of revising some of the existing regulations and enforcing a stricter observance of others. Two years afterwards he waa gazetted rear-admiral "m veeognition of his services in helping to develop the navy along Western lines. About two years Tiefore the Great War commenced lie was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, having passed successfully through the Russo-Japanese War, and seeing flic importance of the improvements he had brought about and realising the need for * till furtcer cha-,"»es. He was .Naval Aide-de-Camp to the Emperor of Japan during the war between his country and China, which commenced a couple of years later. He was Minister of the Navy during the Great War, and his administrative ability was of valuable assistance to the Allies at a period wheu all the knowledge available was required to keep things moving ahead satisfactorily. At this period the Japanese Navy acted mostly on patrol duty, particularly of the Eastern seas, as well as doing a considerable amount o£ escort work, even Xew Zealand troops being glad of the protection offered by the Japanese warships, which accompanied the various transports on

their way to Europe. After the upheaval r-inong the Koreans in 1019. Viscount Saito was appointed Governor of that disturbed country, and during ♦hat period he paid quite a lot of attention to educational matters. When the conference between World Powers on naval matters was lirst mooted several years aso it did nut fake Japan long to decide -vlio should ::e the leader or her representatives, .mil Viscount Saito stepped into ;]■;.■ European arena to help place V.p;"nre the countries engaged in conference Japan's great desire for world peace, even though her navy was on a very formidable war footing.

Mr. W. M..Citrine. On ]"th January last the "Sunday K.\pr.-j<" published what purported to be :m interview between Mr. W. M. Citrine and another member of the British Labour Party with Signor Mussolini, in which it was stated that Mr. Citrine and his

companion had been treated in a somewhat cavalier manner. The report stated that he asked the Italian Dictator to :rllow delegates from Italy to take part in the International Labour Federation's Conference, to which

Signor Mussolini is reported to have replied: "You have tho audacity to ask me to relegate the rule of my workpeople to a handful of political fanatics at Amsterdam. You have wasted your time." Then said the "Sunday Express" correspondent: "He rang the bell and the delegation was ushered out." Although the cablegram this week does not state wherein the report was misleading, there must have been something incorrect about it as the Court awarded Mr. Citrine £500 damages on the ground of libel. Mr. Walter M'Lennan Citrine was born on 22nd .lugust, 1887, at Liverpool, later receiving the usual elementary education of his class, which he- supplemented when he reached manhood by attending evening classes. In 1911 he became a member of the Electrical Trades Union and was appointed by the union secretary of the Mersey district in 1914, holding that office for six years. He lias also served on the Executive Committee of the Liverpool Trades Council, and was president of the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding in 1920. The year previously he was, elected chairman of tho Wallasey Labour Party, and'he was also a member of the executive of the Labour Research Department. He stood for Wallasey constituency in 1918, but was badly beaten by the Coalition-Unionist candidate. In 1920 Mr. Citrine was appointed assistant general secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, but relinquished that office three years later to become assistant secretary of the Trades Union Congress. Since 1925 he has occupied the post of secretary, and it was in this capacity that he recovered damages from the "Sunday Express."

Sir Walter Lee. A prominent overseas visitor to New Zealand at tho present time is Sir Walter Lee, Minister of Lands in the Tasmanian Government. One of the chief objects of his visit was to confer witli the New Zealand Government on (lie

question of tin; resumption of the regular steamship service which once existed between Hobart and Bluff, and which he considers will be mutually advantageous to New Zealand and Tasmania. Sir Walter accepted tlie portfolios of

Lauds, Works, Agriculture, and Forestry in his country's Cabinet towards" the end of June last year, but had already previously had a wide experience of Ministerial ofiice. He was Premier of Tasmania from April, 191G, to June, 3922. as well as Chief Secretary and Minister of Education, later holding the portfolios of Colonial Treasurer and Minister of Education, serving the longest period as Leader of the Government in the history of the State. When lie was superseded as Premier by the Hon. J. B. Hayes, he still retained Cabinet rank, holding the portfolios of Colonial Treasurer and that of Minister of Education. When the Hayes Administration was compelled to resign after only a short period of ofiice he again assumed the ofiice of Premier and Treasurer, both of which he continued to hold until a Labour Cabinet under the Premiership of Mr. Lyons took over in 1923. He was first elected to Parliament in 1009 as one of the representatives of Wilmot.

Sir Otto Niemeyer. Quite a number of notable figures were present at the New Zealand dinner held at the High Commissioner's Office in London on 16th April, but none has hafl a more notable business career than Sir Otto Niemeyer, who is a prominent

figure on the staff of the Bank of England, and, therefore, comes more or less into close touch with the Dominions. Ilia knowledge of the trend of iinancein all parts of the world led to his appointment in 1922 as Controller of Finance to the Treasury

of the British Government, following in the footsteps of Sir Basil Blackett, who had been appointed Finance Member to the Council of the Viceroy of India. Sir Otto is also a member of the Financial Committee of the League of Nations I on which body he has done much valuable work. He entered the British Treasury in I90o", having been educated at St. Paul's School, in London, and Bulliol College, Oxford University. He was in charge of the Finance and Budget Division of the Treasury from 1919 to 1921, being then promoted to Deputy Controller of Finance. Sir Otto is now 46 years old, and ,vas , knighted five years ago. He has served on numberless committees and commissions on behalf of the Government, but it is understood that his appointment to the Bank of England was the first occasion in which a. member of the Civil Service has joined the staff of the Bank of England. The transfer was made desirabte when It became necessary to reorganise the interns] economy of the bank, which had become somewhat congested since the war years. During the period of the Great War, with all its changed financial conditions, it became necessary to create a number of new posts which had' previously been undreamt of, but with the termination of the war and the stabilisation of the financial conditions it became necessary to overhaul the whole position, and'this was the task set Sir Otto when he joined the bank. He has now, of course, severed Ms connection entirely with the Treasury, and all his work has been in connection with the bank of recent years.