LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 238, 8 October 1936, Page 18

LONDON LETTER.

THE KING'S TALKS. PRINCESS AND GROOM. \ YOUNG MEN WANT TO FIT. ( (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, September 11. People who see special significance in every action of the King are impressed by the fact that he has met and talked to two kings and two dictators during his holiday. They think that his conversations with King George of Greece, King Boris of Bulgaria/ Kernal Ataturk and General Metaxas, the Greek Dictator, presage a new turn in Britain's relations with the countries of Eastern Europe. The best "answer to such suggestions is that the King was not accompanied by any member of the British Foreign Office —as he certainly would have been had his travels had any diplomatic significance. He could hardly have visited these countries without meeting their rulers. Incidentally, King George of Greece (who spent many years of exile in England), is an old friend of King Edward, who also knows King Boris well. But although there is no deep significance in the King's holiday travels, his journey will certainly serve to strengthen' the bonds that already exist. This is especially true of Turkey, whose friendship is all the more -aluable to Britain since this country shifted it 3 centre of Mediterranean interest eastward. King Edward invited Kemal to pay,him a purely personal, visit in London; but when he does so the Government will certainly see that the Turkish Dictator • is welcomed as a political guest of Britain as well as a personal guest of the Sovereign. "Engaged" by Rumour. Princess Juliana of Holland has been "engaged" innumerable times by rumour. More than once her name has been linked with that of King Edward .(when he was Prince of Wales) and with the names of each of his brothers. The reason why rumour has made so many matches for her is that Princess Juliana is one of the few eligible Royal Princesses in Europe. Her. engagement this" week to Prince Bernard, of Lippe leaves only' two or three young ladies of sufficiently high rank for a Prince of the Blood to marry. . , Probably -Princess Juliana would have ■ been married long ago but for the fact, that she is herself heiress 'to a throne. This meant that, like Queen Victoria of England, she could take as husband only a Prince not in direct line of succession to any other throne. Anyone who might one day have become a king was automatically ruled out, because of the complications that would have been caused by uniting two thrones. Princess choice has also been limited y the fact that she must marry a Proi 8 to a ' Germanj ; Scandinavian or English Prince. flying vis Popular. . alKuee™ in spite of 1 ff fiUhig its ****** ■ » sb popular that\b^sand^; f ;

be recruits are being turned away Fifteen months ago the R.A.F. announcec that it wanted 2500 additional pilots All but 130 of these have already beer obtained, although the R.A.F. had no! intended to complete the cxpansior before next April. There have been so many applicants that the tests have now been made more severe to keep 1 down the numbers. Non-flying personnel ■ is being enrolled with equal rapidity, i Of the 20,000 vacancies announced last year only just over 3000 remain to be filled. ' ;£IO,OOO To Soothe His Conscience. [ - A man who simply signs himself ; "Y.ZV has just, sent the Inland Revenue £10,000 to soothe his conscience. Eng- ; land is probably the only country in the world where such a thing could happen, as it does, quite regularly. Every few weeks the Chancellor acknowledges;, through a newspaper "agony"' advertisement, the receipt of money from uneasy taxpayers. .Usually the sums are quite small. This £10,000 is the largest ever received as "conscience money," but there have been several anonymous windfalls of £1000 to £5000. Generally they mean that the sender has been successfully cheating the income tax over a long period and now, in his old age, feels guilty about it. He does not want to confess and pay up openly; so he compromises by paying secretly without confessing. Television Fears. The first broadcasts of television have pleased both its friends and its enemies—and for different reasons. Television 'experts and enthusiasts profess themselves more than satisfied with the demonstrations, which (they claim) conclusively prove that visual broadcasts are a potential success. Those who fear television's competition are equally pleased because they believe that success is still some distance away. Manufacturers of ordinary radio receivers had been afraid that television sets would capture their market. But television is apparently still too problematical and the . sets too expensive to attract many buyers, and the makers of ordinary, listening-sets are joyfully budgeting for the record sale of 2,000,000 sets during the coming twelve months. Others nervously awaiting television's advent were the cinema interests. They are now satisfied that it will be years before the average family can. sit round a television receiver at home instead of woing to the cinema. In fact, television 7s likely at first to be a source of additional profit to the cinemas, ' for until receiving sets get really cheap most people will probably see their television broadcasts on the movie screen. "Paradise of Exiles." During the last century England was the chief refuge for political exiles of all' colours. Since the war France has taken the lead, and she is now again showing impartial hospitality to refugees from both sides in the Spanish civil war. The first to flee into France were fugitives from Communist violence in Barcelona —many of them wealthy people. Later, following the Fascist successes round Irun and San Sebastian, came hordes of poorer people fleeing from Franco's men. "Altogether between 10,000 and 20,0t)0 Spaniards are estimated to have crossed into French territory. The French have welcomed them all, stipulating only that they shall establish themselves wellj away from the frontier.