LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 108, 10 May 1939, Page 15

LONDON LETTER.

NEWS CENSORSHIP. BIGGEST PEACE-TIME BUDGET GOOD WORK BY SCOTLAND YARD. (Prom Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, April 17. Lord Stanhope's "indiscretion" this week introduced the general public for the first time to what is known as a "D notice." It was by means of a "D notice" that the Admiralty requested newspapers not to publish the sensationally worded speech in which the First Lord referred to the maiming of the Navy's anti-aircraft guns in readiness for aii imminent emergency. Foreign cr.'ti.-s who declare that the "free" Biitish Press can in reality be censored whene\er the Government wishes will doubtless adduce this "D notice" in support of their argument. In fact, it proved the contrary. Some London newspapers obeyed the Admiralty's request; others published the First Lord's speech. "P notices," though their existence may come as a surprise to the public. are familiar enough in Fleet Street. Almost every week editors arc requested "in the national interest" not to publish some apparently insignificant item nf new?, such as the testing of a new aeroplane or tho movement of a battleship. But these notices are merely requests, not orders. There are no penalties for disregarding them. Probably the chief reason why editors comply with "D notieee" is that the subject mutter i« generally dull. Britain Expects Luxury Taxes. Xever in recent years has a British Budget attracted less anticipatory interest than the oiks which Sir John Simon will open on April 2.). Yet it will probably be the biggest peace-time Budget in the country's history. One international crisis after another has completely overshadowed anything so humdrum as home finances. While the decision to borrow a great deal of the rearmament money has largely calmed the fears of a ri.se in income tax, that possibility is not quite ruled out. Where else will the Chancellor yet the extra money lie need*? Higher taxes on luxuries—both those of the rich and those of the poor—are the favourite suggestion. Among the rich man's luxuries proposed for taxation are cars, jewellery, furs and other valuables above n certain [nice. The poor man's beer, tea and sugar may also pay more, and his bicycle may be taxed. The horse-power tax on cars may be raised from 15/ to its former level of £1, and a driving license mav costs 10/ instead of 5/. Behind the I.R.A. Plots. The various "bomb plot" trials in which 33 persons connected with flic Irish Republican Army have so hir been sentenced, have revealed little of the polici! work In-hind these a'-rests. In London a team of picked Scotland Yard men wm-ked day and nicht after] the explosions. At oiie time 300 police i were on this particular "job." In the Metropolitan area alone more than 500 clubs, houses and garages were raided. Great quantities of explosives, of which northing wus heard in court, were seized. The damage done by* the explosions in London and elsewhere is estimated at £.50.000. Rut for tho prompt and energetic action of the police the bill might have run into millions. An ironical feature of the cases i« that the polire work -would have been much easier if Ireland had indeed been an independent republic. But since Kire is still part of the Empire there are no immigration laws to prevent undesirable Irishmen from coming freely into England. M. Lebrun Out of Pocket. Though the Presidency of France | carrier with it a salary of about £20.000 a year the position offers the holder more honour than profit. When M. Poineare left office he declared, "I have the satisfaction of leaving the I Ely*;eo as poor as I came in." M". Doumergue found the official allowance inadequate, and M. Lebrun also has been considerably out of pocket eo heavy arc the expenses. More than fo.OOO is paid in tax. and a staff of 23 servants costs the President another £2f>oo. He must also pay the cost of c-peeial trips, such as tho recent visit to London, out of hi.s allowance; and pay for all the entertainments,' banquets and receptions held in connection with his office. In recent years the franc has been several times devalued, but the salary of the President has not been adjusted accordingly. English Chicken sexers. When the member of the Japanese House of Representatives arrives shortly in England to arrange for the formation of a trade union for the Japanese I chicken-scxing experts in this country (with 20 members it will be the world's smallest union), he will find that his fellow-countrymen no longer enjoy a monopoly in the'-work. For some time after the arrival of the Japanese experts six years ago it was claimed that they were the only people in the land capable of pronouncing with accuracy the sex of a day-old chick. They were paid 1 j<l a chick, and were able to examine 700 an hour. It was not long before Englishmen were .seeking to enter this profitable profession. At firet there were a number of frauds, as poultry farmers found to their cost. This resulted in the formation of a Chick Sexing Board, a licensing authority to ensure that only qaulified people are employed. To gain a pass certificate a candidate must deliver verdicts on 400 chicks an hour, with 92 per cent accuracy. For "honours" the standard is 500 an hour, with 95 per cent accuracy. A number of English men and women have qualified and it ia probable that eventually the foreigners will be ousted.

Converts for Mosley? There was jubilation in the ranke of the Bfitish Union of Fascists, as the followers of Sir Oswald Mosley call themselves, when not long ago they gained a lot of new members, many of them avowed Communists. The jubilation, however, was short-lived. Their joininjr-up was part of a concerted plan to undermine the pnrty from within, and the first fruits of this penetration have been revealed in the appearance of rival groups among the Fascists.