NEW YEAR HONOURS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 1, 2 January 1934, Page 6

NEW YEAR HONOURS.

The two conferments in the New Tear Honours that will arouse most interest are the peerage bestowed upon Sir William Morris, the famous manufacturer of motor cars, and the knighthood given to Mr. Cedric Hardwicke, the versatile actor, who has entertained millions on the stage and the screen. Lord Morris is a very conspicuous figure in a great industry, in which Britain was slow to move at first but has now taught the world a good deal. The bestowal coincides with a very encouraging period of prosperity in the making of cars. Many manufacturers have been made peers; Lord Morris is the first in his particular field. Mr. Cedric Hardwicbe's knighthood comes surprisingly early, for he is only forty, and famous actors have had to wait until middle age for this mark of appreciation. It is often complained that conditions on the present-day stage are killing versatility; when a man has made a success in one kind of part, the tendency is to keep him doing this and nothing else. Mr. Hardwicke's career, however, shows that it is possible to achieve a wide range of success. He was the original Churdles Ash, the farm labourer, in Mr. Eden Phillpott's very popular play, "The Farmer's Wife," and the •• original Edward Moulton-Barrett in "The- Barretts of Wimpole Street." He is one of the most eminent of interpreters of Shavian parts, and no one who saw his Captain Dreyfus in the film of that drama of injustice is likely to forget it. The honour bestowed on him is a recognition of the value of the repertory movement, which has made so great an advance in his time.

The list of New Zealand honours includes bestowals of unusual interest. Major-General Sinclair-Burgess, officer commanding the forces, who becomes Sir William, must have had a difficult task in directing the voluntary system in a period of drastic economy. Mr. James Grose, general manager of the National Bank of New Zealand, and until recently chairman of the Associated Banks, who is also knighted, has been much in the public eye during the discussions on banking and currency policy. In the .past* several New Zealand farmers have been knighted. Professor R. E. Alexander, of Lincoln Agricultural College, upon whom a C.M.G. has been conferred, represents the teachers of farmers, the scientific knowledge and instruction which farmers need but which they have not hitherto sought so keenly as they should. Lincoln is our oldest place of agricultural instruction, and it is fitting that its director should be honoured. Two women are included whose services to the public are particularly well known. Miss J. A. Mowbray is head of one of the most flourishing branches of the Victoria League in the overseas Empire, and its position to-day owes much to her enthusiasm and power of organisation. The branch, it should be borne in mind, does not confine its activities to the furtherance of inter-Empire fellowship. It does admirable work in providing gifts for men and women in the back districts of the province. Nurse Maude, of Christchurch, has devoted her life io nursing the poor, and her example must have been of incalculable value there and in >ther places. In Christchurch she has long jeen an institution, and all classes will congratulate her on the honour she has received. The inclusion of Miss Mowbray and Nurse Maude is recognition of the importance of women's social work in Dominion life. J