LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 299, 18 December 1935, Page 19

LONDON LETTER.

BALDWIN'S VICTORY.

IR. MCDONALD'S FUTURE. "CLEANING- TTP» THE STAGE. .J. (From Onr Own Correspondent.) LONDON", November 22. My. .was more surprised by the sit of, the election than Mr. Baldwin of the National toemmnif jarties.i The general view, !$t lip to polling day, was that the EoTerinnent would do well to get a .of 15o. : That, it would return *ith one. ,6f 250—the biggest majority wuedl|injp Government after a norJ| l tlssfioc-rwas beyond the dream of to most -optimistic Government /'sup-, jatoi - . .. -®f ft?:success is due to the luck ■is pollr-for -many Government canwith the narrowest over their Socialist oppoIndeed, had proportional repres,ktion been in operation, the Govmajority would have been •' ' if. votes, the majority has last election from over 1,500;000. ExjJiiS&Styther way, each 'Governelected secured an avervo*'es— an d each OpposisSk! - avera ge of 50,000— w "Vice as many. Peerage Refused. Political ■ circles now p P ft 6 future of three men — Mac Donald, his son, Mr. nald ' and Mr - Winston Ston decisive defeat by Vlv o »f 3 Seaham Harbour was to Jinnr, r ma tter; he never had re^^ n g the seat in a i j. ,n° constituency in the hear# :,i i 3a * re , SS , ei -Durham coalfield, and '' 5 W courageous action on ons been made as t do now—ranging from a (ijjitehr He will, I learn, s ®. a peerage; apart from is j tos e "' s > s sons do not welcome *i%fl of succeeding to a title money to live up to it. Bidwaik Against Diehards. Sfe Eeat ° 3 '' Probable solution is that a and +W t. found for him very teJtitu . -"0 will retain his present feiTj j 6 Cabinet. Mr. Baldwin, I Vt f rn J e l? anx ious to keep him. win tv, i u3 natural loyalty to the Nl! 6 a ? e , National Government Jjtfiil i . r - Mac Donald a most vt a . r , keeping in check the ei ■ tll6 Conservative party. t PHon n f% CoDle to him urging the Tory measures, Mr. a j S ' heart, more Radical tlio ■ f use f u l to be able to mj J; Government is lie !•;„ it must have regard W3 Ilor '"Conservative he, I fancy, will have ~°PPortunity at a by-election. e ' ec tion there was much I post .for .Mr. Churchill.

and it was suggested that ho -would be put at the head of the Admiralty, to carry through the Government's programme for modernising our naval defences.

' That, I think, is now most unlikely. Mr. Churchill's election speeches, in which he demanded the complete rebuilding of the Navy, showed that he is more enthusiastic than the Government. Further, he is still unpopular in certain sections of the Tory party, and there would undoubtedly be several minor revolts were he to be given Cabinet oflice.

For these reasons he will, I fancy, remain on the back benrhea. From that position of irresponsibility he will be able to harry friends and foes alike with that pungent and brilliantly expressed criticism of which he is the greatest living master. Reshuffle in the Spring. On the whole, therefore, there will be few changes in the new Government when it meets the House of Commons early in December. Mr. Baldwin may have a Cabinet reshuffle next spring; for the present he will carry on with his present team. One of the first tasks will be to approve the new Unemployment Assistance Regulations, which were held up until after the election campaign. "This Great Family." The King, I hear, will again deliver an intimate five-minute talk to the Empire in the course of the 8.8.C.'s Christinas Day programme. The programme is to be»entitled "This Great Family"— phrase taken from His Majesty's memorable broadcast last year. This time it will last only half an hour, against an hour in previous years. But in that time greetings will be exchanged between typical workers in the Home Country and their counterparts in Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. On Boxing Day Empire listeners 'will hear Sir Seymour Hicks playing his famous part of Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" and, possibly, a relay from the Drury Lane pantomime, "Jack and the Beanstalk." Objectionable Jokes. The London theatre is, on the whole, probably the cleanest of any capital city in the world. But there has recently been an outbreak of objectionable forms of humour on the variety and cabaret stages over which the Lord Chamberlain, as play censor, appears to have little control. British Equity, the actors' "trade union," is, I hear, about to embark on a campaign for "cleaning up" the West End stage. . The actors feel that this is creating a false impression and they are anxious that it should be eliminated from within rather than from outside tlio profession. In this they are following' the example of the film industry, which lias appointed its own censor, whose rulings are accepted by cinema licensing authorities all over the country. A Boom in "Milk Bars." Temperance enthusiasts and farmers alike are rejoicing at the success of the "milk bars" which are spreading at a phenomenal rate throughout the country. It is onlv a few months since the hrst was opened in Fleet Street. Yet alread}. I hear, it is estimated that by next summer these bars will be selling milk at the rate of 20,000,000 gallons a year In addition they are budgeting I,ooo,ooo.gallons of.British fruit juice.