LEGS OF NOTE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 104, 4 May 1936, Page 8

LEGS OF NOTE.

DISTINGUISHED M.P.'S.

IN BRITISH PARLIAMENT. JOURNALIST'S IMPRESSIONS. Ifats, legs and foreigners played a big part in the observations of Mr. H. McD. Vincent, a New Zealand journalist, who on a recent visit to England occupied a seat as a special representative in the Dominions and foreign section of the British House of Commons Press Gallery. To-day he delighted members of the Auckland Rotary Club with a racy account of his impressions. "Britons will always fight to the death if necessary in support of tradition," he said, in describing the scenes he witnessed in the House of Commons. "Below were men championing tradition —that being the right to wear a top hat in the Chamber of the Commons. As peers of the realm they had that right, and they exercised it though hats had an awkward habit of slipping forward when, hunched in their seats, they often closed their eyes in contemplation. A Traditional Right. The second thing tliHt struck me was a row of men in the front seat to the right ot' Mr. Speaker, who, without exception, rested their feet on the table in front which bore the mace. Apparently they also were exercising a traditional right. The row of legs fascinated me. There was a pair of short sedate legs that seemed out of place in the row. They belonged to Sir Samuel Hoare, the then Foreign Secretary. "Next to' them was another pair of short legs, but thick and sturdy, plump thighs stretching the cloth. They were legs designed to support burdens, even though in this case the burden borne by the owner of them was largely one of the mind. For above them was a face that conjured up all the native shrewdness, honesty and strength of purpose we associate with John Bull. It was the face of the Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin. There were two pairs of long legs, side by side, (hat at times seemed to become entangled. They belonged to two men whose minds can entangle opponents, two men who are the most valuable to the Government in thrust and parry tactics of debate. They were Mr. Neville Chamberlain and Sir John Simon. "Both have strong personality. Mr. Chamberlain's appearance gains distinction by his sleek black hair, terminating in an inch wide hand of silver right round the bend. You are familiar with Ihe eirtr-like dome of the head of Si? .John Simon from photographic reproductions, but these do not reveal the smirk, for it can be described as nothing else, which nccomnanies the points he makes in debate and which irritates opponents.

A View of Mr. Eden. "There was another pair of legs, long, thin and bony. They were restless legs. Often they crossed and recrossed, and sometimes they would drop to the floor, to be immediately tossed tablewards again. They were the legs of Mr. Anthony Eden. It was a dramatic session, and the talkies have accustomed us to look for a hero in drama. If we look lor a hero in that session it was Mr. Eden. Perhaps he will never bask in greater triumph, for in that session he was given unstintingly the praise of botli friend and foe.

"He had come to the House fresh from the victory at Geneva of having weakened French influence on the League of Nations and swung 50 nations the way of sanctions, which then seemed to pave the way to peace. Although a speech by Sir Samuel Hoare before the League had impressed delegates strongly with Great Britain's sincerity, the groundwork among delegates had already been done by Mr. Kaon. A good linguist, Mr. Eden is what is known as a mixer and he had won popularity among delegates as a good fellow. My first impression or Mr. Eden, apart from Ids lcs, was one of youth. In the talkies Mr. Eden looks his age; in the Hons-, particularly when animated—and he is a volatile type he gives an impression of an age in the twenties.

Mr. Vincent turned from his consideration of Commons personalities to those ot his companions in the foreign section ot the Gallery. He was astonished, he said, to find it full of European and Indian journalists. There was even an Abyssinian journalist. The Indian vernacular Press was apparently taking a keen interest in Imperial affairs, and several papers had representatives in the Gallery.

Sentiments for France. "I sat between two Frenchmen," he said, "and it was noticeable that they largely confined themselves to reporting remarks that were unfavourable to the League or supporting Italy. As at that

time, at any rate, France was sympathetic toward Italy, and was on the side of sanctions with reluctance, it seemed to me unfortunate that French journalists were giving their papers but a one-sided view of the debate. After all, one could not blame them: they were supplying their public with sentiments it wanted to hear."