LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 186, 8 August 1935, Page 17

LONDON LETTER.

LL.G.'B ELECTION FUND

"DUBBING" KNIGHTS.

ISLANDS FOR, AEROPLANES,

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LOXDOX, July 12. Despite eevero rebuffs to hie plan to liring the Free Churches into politics in support of his reconstruction policy, it still looks as though Mr. Lloyd George will play an important part in the coming election. He is well financed for the fight- A shock awaits those of his opponents who suppose that because he lias no following in Parliament he also lacks political funds. "LI.G." has certainly spenjt tens of thousands of pounds in attempted '•come-backs" since he lost power. But ho still has plenty left. He still hae the famous political "war chest," which his enemies used to suggest had been filled by the sale of honours. The chest je actually fuller than it was at the last general election. "LI.G." hae proved a wise investor, and a large part of his fund is invested in a company whose shares have risen to nearly six times tlicir value of a few years ago. When Will It Be? Speculation as to the date of the election is becoming more and more lively. Prophets of an autumn election are beginning to feel rather doubtful. October is now ruled out because Parlia-, mentarv business will not be finished in time. December is unlikely because it would interfere with Christmas trade and pleasures. February is now being spoken of with increasing confidence, but a strong body of Conservative opinion wants a November election. Four Swords For Honours. More Jubilee honours were conferred this week, but there are etill a number of men listed as knights two months ago who have not yet received the. acolade from the King. How many people know, by the way, that His Majesty uses four different swords for "dubbing" knights? One is for civilians, one for soldiers, another for sailors, aird a fourth (a fairly new one) for honouring, members of the Air Force. Another interesting thing about an investiture is that decorations .conferred on ruling princes are never bestowed in the Throne Room of the Palace, where other people receive their honours. Eulers are received and decorated by the King privately, and this tradition is always followed in the case of Indian princes. "Seadromes." Once again the question of "seadromes" has been raised in connection with plans for an air service across the Atlantic. The idea is to build a chain of five floating stages, anchored in the ocean and serving as landing and refuelling stations for the. aeroplanes. Each "seadrome," it is estimated, would eost £1,000,000 to build. It is significant that the French Government has now definitely decided against the plan. Strong objections to the "seadromes" have come, curiously enough, from military quarters. Such, gigantic floating stages would be virtmally new pieces of "territory" belonging to the nation that built them. They would be almost impossible to defend from attack in time of war, and if captured they would form valuable bases for the enemy. From the airman's point of view the chief objection to "seadromes" is that they might be difficult to locate in fog or storm.

Sir S. Hoare as Linguist. British Foreign Secretaries have not in. the past been notable for their linguistic accomplishment. Sir Samuel Hoare, who has now settled down in his new Department, is an exception. He speaks fluent French and German, and he must be the first Foreign Secretary to have a working knowledge of Russian. Sir Samuel learnt Russian more than twenty years ago. It came in useful when he was sent to Russia during the war as head of an intelligence mission. This mission, incidentally, brought Sir Samuel into touch with a. murderer serving a life sentence in an English prison. The man had spent his solitary hours in learning Russian, and when he heard of the intelligence mission he asked for a job with it. Sir Samuel was sufficiently interested to investigate the case. Though the convict did not get a Russian post, he was released and allowed to do other war work. Instead of Cotton. If scientists' hopes are realised, Lancashire will soon be independent of the cotton fields. The mills will use wood pulp instead. Artificial silk made from wood pulp is, of course, nothing new, and it has long been competing with cotton for many purposes. But raw cotton is still a good deal cheaper than the viscose made from wood pulp, and hitherto the latter has required special machinery to weave it.

Now Dr. E. F. Armstrong, a noted industrial chemist, claims that scientists have discovered a way to use viscose in the very same machines which now produce cotton fabrics. He also declares that very soon viscose will be produced more cheaply even that raw cotton.

Lawrence of Arabia's Letters. Friends of Lawrence of Arabia are scattered all over the world. Most of them must have treasured letters written by him. Lawrence's brother, Mr. A. W. Lawrence, has just made a public request for the loan of such letters. He plans to publish some of them in volume form —but it will be a very "discreet" book. Letters of a private nature, or any which it seems inadvisable to publish, will be copied. The copies will then be handed over to trustees, who are to keep them secret mtil the year 2000. Then those of us who are still alive may be allowed to •-ead them.

Perils of Journalism. Journalism in Nazi Germany is not vithout its perils. A reporter on the itaff of a leading Berlin daily paper was n the habit of lending his Press pass o a French colleague when the latter vanted to visit some function or other. The authorities heard of this, and now he German reporter is in prison. He s to be tried for high treason, for which he penalty may be death by beheading —or at best a'long term of imprisonment. Two Voices on War. Two voices in the Church of England vere raised on the question of war last Sunday. Said the Archbishop of Canter>urv: "A horrible menace of war hangs -iver Europe to clay. Nations havt isserted peace principles and signed incts. vet 1:0110 of them seems to adhere

'o those principles." Said t!u> Pov. N G. Ttailton. an Army ■haplain: "There are thinas which are "ar more horrible than a pood clean war. [ wonder why people become so horrified when they discuss -war."

What Dogs Cost. The dull pages of the latest license returns yield some interesting facts about the Englishman's love of dogs. There are now just short of 3,000,000 dogs in this country, and their licenses bring the Treasury £1,088.330 a year. Even a small dog costs at least £10 a year to feed, so that something like £30,000,000 is spent on keeping these pets. Some people advocate a tax on cats, in the- hope of reducing the numbers. They will be interested to know that dogs are rapidly multiplying in spite of the 7/6 license which owners have to pay. The dog population of Britain has increased by almost a million in the past 20 years.