In the Public Eye

Commodore H. Douglas King, P.C. Among the lesser known men whose names figure in the recent Resignation Honours, not one is of greater merit than Commodore H. Douglas King, who I receives the right to attach P.C. (Privy Councillor) to his name. During the Conservative regime he was .Financial Secretary to the War Office and later Parti amentary Secretary to the Ministry of Mines. He is now 52 years old, and was first elected to Parliament for the Northern Division of Norfolk in 1918, and (vas afterwards returned for South Paddiugtou in 1922, which he has continued to represent' through successive General Elections in 1923, 1924, and 1929. He was Parlia meutary private secretary to Lieuten ant-Colonel Sir Leslie Wilson when .the latter was chairman of the National Maritime Board in 1919, occupying a similar office under Sir Hainar Green wood when he was Chief Secretary for Ireland. Commodore King was a Conservative Whip in 1921, and became Junior Lord of the Treasui, in 1922. He has had a varied career, starting off! in the mercantile marine, He received Ida sea training in the training ship Conway, was in the Royal Navy for a time, and then served for some years in sailing ships until,he transferred to the P. and O. service. He left the sea in 1899, and took to farming for an occupation, but not content, commenced to study law, and passing the necessary examinations was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1905. Still looking for fresh fields to conquer, he turned in the direction of the House of Com mons, and was adopted as Conservative candidate for the Northern Division of Norfolk in. 1909 and again in 1910, but failed to : secure a majority on either occasion. Having had a considerable amount of sea experience, including service in the Eoyal Navy, he received a commission in the London division of tho R.N.V.E., and was appointed to the, E.N. Division on the Drake at the outbreak of war in 1914. In this capacity he was present at the siego of Ant werp and at the Gallipoli landing, where he remained until the Peninsula was evacuated. Ho served afloat and ashore until the termination of the war. j receiving the French Cross do Guerre, the D.5.0., and other decorations. His wife is an Australian, being the only daughter of the late Mr. W. B. Swan, of Adelaide. Earl Peel. A long list of Resignation Honours was published during the present weelt, j at the head of which was notified the elevation of Viscount Peel to an earldom. When tho Earl of Birkcnhead resigned as Secretary of State for India in October of last ye;ir, the King approved the appointment of Viscount Peel as his successor. The latter was at that time First Commissioner for Works, to which lie had - been appointed in 192-i, and he brought considerable executive experii, . enco to bear upon his new task. Educated at Eton and Oxford University, Earl Peel was called to the Bar at the luner Temple in 1893, but liko many other British lawyers deserted law for politics. After many years' experience in municipal politics, during which period he sat on tho London County Council ho was elected Conservative member for the Southern Division of Manchester in 1900. He then contested the Harrow .Division in 1906, but was unsuccessful, and did not again enter tho House of Commons as a member until 1909, when ho was returned for Taunton. He remained a member until 1913, when ho succeeded his father and took bis place in tho Uouso of Lords. Up was born in the midst of a political atmosphere in 1807, his father being the youngest son of the great Sir Robert Peel, English statesman, and ono of tho new aristocracy of wealth which sprang from tho rapid progress of mechanical discovery and manufactures in tho latter part of tho eighteenth century. The present Lord Pool acted as Municipal Reform Leader on tho London County Council during a period when' the more democratic side of the city was fighting for better representation and more equitable conditions. During tho period of the Great War he was chairman of the Committee on tho Detention of Neutral Vessels. 'Iv 1919 he was UnderScerotary for War, and in 1921 ho became Chancellor of tho Duchy of Lancaster, from which ho was removed to the India Office as Secretary of State. He has had a considerable amount of journalistic experience, and during the Greco-Turkish War was correspondent for tho London "Daily Telegraph." Marshal Josef Pilsudski. During the present week it was announced that M. Czechowicz had been charged in Poland with the wrongful expenditure of State funds, but the1 Court hearing the case decided to drop it without giving judgment, wiiieti Is generally considered as a victory for Marshal Pilsudski against whom the chargoa u-ero really levelled by his political opponents. Like Koseiuszko and Mickiewicz, Marshal Pilsudski was born in Lithuania, in that part of the country near Vilna u-li'u-h. Litliuun lans persist in claiming as their ;>\vn. despite the election hold during tinPolish occupation th.-it unmistakably proved the desire or' the population to be merged into the comparatively nowPolish State. His family i s old iuicl distinguished, one of thus'- families of Polish gentry that have ever plavoil a leading part in the bistury of 'their country and yet remained unlitled. in the same manner as nuinv of the :>tfl yeoman families of England have remained outside the list oi knighthoods and peerages. He was born at the manor house of Zulov in 1567. The time was a troubled one, for only four years had elapsed since the »• tional insurrection of 1863, and time had little obliterated the memory of the savage cruelty of Count Mouravie" in re pressing it. A reign of terror still prevailed, while , over every Pole there still brooded an air of suspicion. The family having lost the greater part of its wealth moved into the town of Vilna, and here tho coming Marshal spent his early boyhood, learning the hard lessons of life and acquiring that staunchness and courage that have been his outsttnding characteristics ever since. On reaching schooi age he was compelled to attend a Russian school, where ho learned to hate all things dominated by tho Slav, and later went to Charkow University to take up the profession, of medicine. Later he returned to-y.ilaa, whero he joined the Polish

.Revolutionary Circle, taking a leading part in its activities, but refused to have anything to do with anything that savoured of anarchy or assassination, but in spite of his moderation he was arrested and sentenced to banishment to Siberia for five years. ' From this time onwards he became the active enemy of .Russia and all things Russian, his many adventures savouring more of fairy tale Jian fact. The seed that he .owed at this time in the cause of his country received its harvest when the frontiers of Europe were amended after the Great War, and Poland became a Sovereign State, of which he is now the official head. Mr. C. P. Scott. .Few finer .figures are to be found in the public life of any 'country than that, of Mr. C. P. Scott, who for more than 57 years edited the "Manchester Guardian," his retirement being announced during the present week. His v n tarnished idealism, his immense praeti:al capacity, his strong and independent judgment in politics his exceptionally wide range of culture and sympathy, and above all the unfailingly Liberal, forward - moving bent of nis mind —a sort of perennial youth which has kept him always in the van of each jf his successive generations—such are some of his more conspicuous qualities. Himself a survival of the old type of "writing" editor, he has faced the great transition in .-journalism during the past 30 years with resource and success. He has made the "Manchester Guardian," as an organ of civilisation, valued not only in England but throughout Europe and the world. It is characeristic of him that he. has. never accepted any titled honour, and in private life manifests the same not© of simplicity and high refinement, with tho same total lack of ostentation, which he has impressed on his paper. In politics a Liberal he recently made an earnest appeal for unity in the ranks of the party he has helped for so many years. The words that he has spoken on a number of occasions at he National' Liberal Club have always expressed the mature and independent judgment of the doughtiest and most disinterested ve'eran in the party, and no man's word:, could in similar circumstances but be entitled to carry' great weight. He Was born at Bath in 1846, and is now an old mau of 83 years, but 6till retains his touch with the political life of Great Britain. He was married in 1874 to Miss .Rachel Cook, who died in 1905, leaving him with two sons and one daughter. Mr. Scott completed his education at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, University, where he gained his degree of M.A. and firstclass honours in classics. Ho several times contested Parliamentary constituencies in the' Liberal interests, and from 1895 to 1906 was member for the Leigh Division of Lancashire. One of his sons, Mr. E. T. Scott, is to succeed him in the editorship of the "Manchester Guardian." Duke of Norfolk. Something of tho pomp and ceremony of olden days returned to Arundel Castle recently, when tho youn"' Duko of Norfolk, Premiei Duke and Hereditary Earl Marshal of England,! celebrated his coming-of-age. During his minority Viscount FitzAlan has filled tho position of Earl ACarshal, and he, tho Duchess of Norfolk, and a third person hav# been acting as executors of tho estate, which the ,-oung Duko will .ow manago for himself. Many and costly were tho gifts which ho roceived from his mother and sistors and from relatives and friends. Among them was a small and simplo wooden statuo of St. Bernard, whose Christian name ho bears. This was tho gift of Father Cudden, his private chaplain. In this appraisement of a gift that is simple, but of deep significance, lies tLo koy to tho young Duke's character. Tho heir to one of tho greatest inheritances in England and tho premier Duke and Earl is one of the most modest and unspoiled of England's young soldiers. Ho is an officer m the Eoyal Horse Guards ("The Blues"), and takes his military duties very seriously. He has, however, taken no part in public or social affairs up to the present, and his tastes lie almost entirely in the direction of sport. Ho was born on 30th May, 190S, and succeeded his father twelve years a«o. His twenty-first birthday celebrations wer. of the simplest character. Aftor Communion in his private chapel within tho grounds of Arundol Castle tho Duke breakfasted and subsequently attended High Mass at the Church of St. Philip Neri, after which he received a number of his retainers from tho estate, who brought him various gifts ihen came luuch with members of a •small house party, followed by one of [ the most beautiful open-air services which can over have taken place in This was Benediction on the ioast of Corpus Christi in the grounds of the castle. For this purpose an open-air altar was erected on the greensward within tho quadrangle, overlooked by the Norman keep, abovo winch flew the Duke's ancestral banner As the sun slanted to the west the bell of the private chapel began to toll for Vespers, to which the public generally were admitted. The procession was formed, and tho Sacred Host was earned m procession by the celebrant, Bishop ot Southwark, Dr. Amigo through tin leafy walks of tho castlo and back to the windy sunlit'altar .Hnukcd hy bearors with great golden simps the golden canopy abovo tho Host »yas borne by the young Duke Ins unek', Viscount KitzAlmi, and his cousins, C.-iptaiii Maxwell Scott DSO ;'. !!rl, M r; °'iy™. V!""" 10""I'l- '^c Ladies Ua.-hiiol. \\in.tndu. and Katharine (the Uul«-' S s.stera, walked in the procession, u-jid, included tne Children of jMiiry in white dresses and veils and 1 , "! £ a? e3 ' the Promonstratensian monks of Storrington, the Sorvite fathers of Bognor, the clergy of St. Philip Nen, in rich vestments of cream and gold, together with tho clergy of other Roman Catholic Churches, tho Confraternity/of the Seven Dolours, and the black-robed nuns of the Convent of Arundol. 'n the evening, following a private dinner party, tho young Duke and his friends proceeded to Bury Hill, where the young man set fire to a bonfire 30ft high, the blaze being visible for twenty-five miles around.