PRESENTATION AT COURT

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28541, 21 March 1958, Page 11

PRESENTATION AT COURT

US. Comment On End Of Custom

(Rec. 11.15 p.m.) NEW YORK, March 20. The New York “Herald-Tribune” today echoed a note of regret, which it said, must surely be stirring London society at the that the Queen had decided . to forgo, after this year, the custom of presenting young debutantes at Court. “What a tumultuous whisper of well-bred regret must be stirring among the ghosts of the gilded age at the news . . . ” it commented.

“The class distinction that was inherent in presentations is said to be the reason for ending them. No-one will regret that side of it. “Nevertheless, they made up part of the ordered, stately and majestic cavalcade of Royal life which the British people look Upon with so much personal pride, no matter what they say about it. “The British long ago divested their Monarchy of any real power, but, as if in compensation, they clothed it in gorgeous pomp, which not only they but many other people enjoy,” it said. "The British Monarchy is a unifying symbol; it is also a ■plendid ornament shining an innocent dazzle on humdrum life in the 20th Century. “We hope it will continue to do

Dressed in civilian clothes, the men were from the Atjeh region of Northern Sumatra and were distributing pamphlets to the people warning them to beware of the “red dragon of Communist China, the red bear of Russia, the black snake of President Soekarno of Indonesia, and the old tiger, the Dutch.”

The United Press said reports that the Achinese—a mixture of Malayans, Indonesians and Arabs —had joined the revolutionary forces and were creating tension in Medan.

The real picture of the fighting on the island was confused by contradictory claims made by the Jakarta Government and the Central Sumatran rebels, the United Press added.

Eight Indonesians, who arrived in Singapore by air last night from Medan, had said Government troops had'' been in control of the town when they left. One of the businessmen said Medan had been ringed with tanks and armoured cars and planes continually made low-flying passes over the city Indonesian, Chinese and Western businessmen were making preparations to leave Medan in the belief that it would be turned into a battleground again, the news agency said.

Major Nangolan, who engineered the rebel attack on Medan was said to have withdrawn beyond the border of the town to await reinforcements from Tapanuli, between Medan and Padang.

The “New York Times” today reported that Indonesian Government forces were still in control of Pakanbaru and Medan yesterday. It quoted a military spokesman as saying that land, sea and air forces were preparing to ’ strike at the main rebel positions in Central Sumatra. The newspaper said the rebels had claimed to have taken Pakanbaru. However, two American journalists who returned to Jakarta from Pakanbaru yesterday had said the city was still firmly in Government hands, and that there had been only a smattering of small arms fire, presumably from guerrillas.