LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 7

LONDON LETTER.

LATE LORD BALFOUR. FKGTEST AGAINST SCOTT PLAY THE APPLE SEASON. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, March 27. On every side people are recalling good stories of Lord Balfour. Some are busy reassessing the man who played so ureat a part in the political world of three reigns, and Mr. J. A. Spender calls attention to a Balfour dictum which deserves wide attention at the present day. It deals with the responsibility of an M.P. Mr. Balfour, in a speech on the Parliament Bill, said: "I think there is a fundamental fallacy underpins all the criticism to which my noble friend (Lord Hugh Cecil) gave powerful expression to-night. fallacy is that in this House the business of each man is simply to judge on the value of each argument as it comes up and to act upon it, absolutely irrespective of any collateral effect which the vote he may give may have. is a distinction —not a distinction which may be laid down in a book, but not a distinction which may be ignored because it cannot be laid down in a book that under our system —and it is a most extraordinary part of our system —the Ministry of the day are not merely the guides of legislation, they are also the "people responsible for the administration, foreign and domestic, and they cannot keep in office a day unless they are supported. Therefore evidently a vote which does not support them i 3 a vote which is not given upon one question alone, but upon the most complicated issues." Later in the debate Mr. Asquith, adds Mr. Spender, expressed his agreement "with every word the right honourable gentleman has said." Lord Balfour's definition of the doctrine seems to me quite sound, but, he goes on to say, it of course requires reciprocity on the part of the Government. A Government which wishes to survive must not put its independent supporters in a position in which they are constantly required to sacrifice their judgment on the minor issues; and it must carefully explore the ground before it launches what may be a major issue. The most ingenious casuist could not lay down any absolute lines of demarcation on these subjects, but they will he discovered easily enough by men who have a mind to work together.

The High Commissioner. The Hiah Commissioner represented New-. Zealand at the Abbey Memorial Service to the late Lord Balfour last Saturday, and a wreath was sent to the funeral at Whittinghame with the inscription, "A Tribute from New Zealand to a great Empire statesman." Tbe High Commissioner and Mrs. Wilford were present at the afternoon party at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. This afternoon Mr., Mrs. and Miss Wilford are attending Mrs. Sidney Webb's reception at Admiralty House, and this evening Mr. Wilford is to meet Prince Arthur of Connaught at the London Chamber of Commerce dinner at the Connaught Rooms. To-morrow morn in i the High Commissioner attends the levee at Buckingham Palace, and will present Mr. Neville Raymond. He has a private dinner engagement at the Savage Club with Mr. Darbyshire on Saturday, and is to dine at the Foreign Office on Monday at a dinner in honour of the Egyptian Minister. Cardinal Bourne. Cardinal Bourne, whose great achievement is the completion of Westminster Cathedral, has just reached the age of 70. He was born in London, in Clapham, the son of an English father who was an official in the Post Office and an Irish mother. At the age of 35 he was consecrated Bishop of Southwark; at 42 lie became Archbishop of Westminster; and then, eight years later, was created a cardinal. In 1910 he consecrated Westminster Cathedral free of debt, thus completing the work which his predecessor, Cardinal Vaughan, had begun. Cardinal Bourne has so great a love of England that he told an Irish congregation at the height of the Irish trouble that "we can proudly say that England, even more perhaps than Pome, by its world-wide influence, makes for the general good of mankind." A Play About Captain Scott. Lady Hilton Young, widow of the great explorer, R. F. Scott, has made a public protest against a three-act drama called "The South Pole Expedition of Captain Scott," which has been produced by Jessner at the Berlin State Theatre. The play is the work of Reinhard Goering, and is intended as a great compliment to British heroism. It is written in the manner of the Greek tragedians, and there is an invisible chorus, whose comments and explanations, keeping strictly to the letter of Captain Scott's own diaries, explain the action which has taken place "off." The theme is the defeat of Scott by Amundsen in the race for the conquest of the Pole. Lady Scott is portrayed by Lina Lossen with a colourlessness which is intended to represent the polite grief of a well-bred Englishwoman, we are told. However clever the play and however sincere was the desire to honour the gallant memory of Scott and his companions, it was an extremely questionable action to produce such a play unknown to the widow of the hero when she herself was to be portrayed on the stage. How much it has been resented by Scott is shown by the disclaimer which has just been published in the English Press. It is as follows: •'Lady Scott (Lady Hilton Young) and the relatives of the late Captain R. F. Scott, R.N., wish it to be known that the presentation in Berlin of a play dealing with the Antarctic expedition of Captafn Scott is without their consent or authority. They had no knowledge of the intention to present it, and the presentation is wholly against their wishes."

The New Zealand Farmers. The party of New Zealand farmers and their wives, about fifty persons in all, which is due to arrive in London on June 19, will spend the first two months in Great Britain and Ireland. Smithfield Markets and the United Dairies are to be visited in London, the National Institute for Research in Dairying near Reading, Mr. Upson's Friesian cattle farm at North Dean, Shorthorn farms in Devon, the Royal Agricultural College in Somerset, the Midland Agricultural and Dairy College and various farms near Nottingham will constitute the programme of visits in England on first arrival. Thence to Scotland, where the party will see the St. Cuthberfs Co-operative Association near Edinburgh, farms near Perth, the Kilmarnock Dairy School, and Ayrshire herds near-Glasgow. The Irish tour will include visits to the Belfast Cooperative Milk Depot, the Albert Agricultural College, Dublin, the Tipperary Co-operative and the Knocklong Creaa-

eries, tlie Loobagli herd of pedigree dairy Shorthorns at Kilma;llock, and Mr. S. 11. Lysaght's pedigree stock farm for Shorthorns and pedigree Kerry cattle in IviHarney. When these tours are concluded the party will lea re London on August 8 and inspect cattle on the island of Jersey, markets in Paris, farms and dairy factories in Holland, Germany and Denmark, the Askov Institute of Research and the Ladelund School of Agriculture and Dairy Work, Denmark. The party is expected back in London 011 September 5. It is hoped to arrange for a visit to the Royal Farm at Windsor, and, if the dates do not clash, the Agricultural and Highland Shows. Dew Zealand on the Continent. Mr. Douglas Glass, of Auckland, has given fourteen successful lectures in Holland on modern literature, with special reference to New Zealand writers. The lectures were illustrated by New Zealand Government slides, and in the course of his tour Mr. Glass covered almost all parts of Holland and spoke to nearly 500 school children. He was very favourably received by the Press. His principal lecture, given in the Colonial Institute, Amsterdam, was so successful that he has received many offers -from■ societies'-to- give farther lectures next season. He is now leaving Rotterdam for Paris, where he means to spend Easter, and will then go to Rome. The Apple Season. New Zealand House was buzzing with excitement before 10 o'clock yesterday morning, and shortly after ten the Higa Commissioner and Mrs. Wilford arrived to take part in the opening ceremony of the Now. Zealand apple seasou. The guest of. honour was Miss Ishbel MacDonald,. who came in place of her father, who was unable to accept the High Commissioner's invitation on account of pressure of business, as Miss Mac Donald explained, adding that she was glad of the opportunity afforded her by her father's absence. The big lounge hall on the ground floor had an effective set piece composed of boxes of red and yellow apples arranged in a skilful pattern, while the background was gay with flags; baskets of apples festooned with ribbon completed the scheme of decoration. Mrs. Wilford wore black, and Miss Mac Donald a grey coat trimmed with fur and a blue felt hat. Mr. Wilford first of all made a brief speech, thanking Miss Mac Donald for her presence, and saying that, as she had another public engagement in a short time, he had promised not to keep her too long. "I.want to.thank Miss Mac Donald on behalf of New Zealand for attending here this morning. In the absence of the Prime Minister, to whom I wanted to present some apples, Mrs. Wilford will present some apples to Miss Mac Donald." Mrs. Wilford, in presenting a .magnificent basket of New Zealand apples, said that she hoped Miss Mac Donald would take as much pleasure in eating them as they did in New Zealand, "for we claim," said Mrs. Wilford, "that New Zealand apples are second to none in the world." Miss MacDonald replied that it certainly looked as if these apples were second to none, but she could not say so until she had eaten them. If, however, they came up to her expectations, she woud certainly be "a very able missionary" on their behalf. To-morrow the whole Mac Donald family would be in London. It was not often that they were able to be all together, and the gift of the apples would add much to their enjoyment.