NEW MINISTERS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 21, 25 January 1924, Page 7

NEW MINISTERS

WHO'S WHO IN ENGLISH POLITICS.

--Following:, are- details,-, additional- to those published yesterday, of members, who have been included in the first'Lab-' our Cabinet:— ■ .-■ •■■ •- -. . ' Mr. Frederick Owen Roberfs,' Minister iof Pensons) since ,his return to Parliament has been chiefly distinguished as. an advocate of the pensions right of the ex-Service man. In the previous Parliament he was Chairman of. the War Pensions Committee of the Labour Party. Born in 1876, {he son of the village bootmaker, he started work at the printing trade when 13 years old. He became secretary of the Northampton , Typographical ./Association, and, later a member of the national executive of the association. Mr. Patrick Hastings, K.C., AttorneyGeneral, haa already made a brilliant reputation at the Bar, and his Parliamentary career is likely to be no less distinguished. Born in 1880, he was a mining engineer in 1898-99, served in the South African War 1900-01, was a journalist in 1902-03. and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1904' be?°™inS a K.C. in 1919. He married, in 1906, Mary Ellenore, third daughter of Colonel Grundy. He has Represented WaUsend in the Labour interests since the 1922 election, when he defeated the sitting member. Mr. H.. H. Slessen. Solicitor-General, contested Central Leeds in December against Sir C. Wilson, the Conservative sitting member, and was ■ defeated by 3229 votes. He was also defeated at "a by-election in July, 1923, in the same electorate and by the same man. Mr. William Graham, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, has lived nfost of his life in Edinburgh, where, from a junior clerkship he graduated into journalism. He took his-M. A. with honours in Economic Science in 1915, and his LL.B. in 1917. He entered local politics in hjs home city- as a Labour representative in 1913, and has held seats on several Royal Commissions. He entered Parliament in 1918 as member for Edinburgh Central, a seat he has since retained.

Mr. John James Lawson, Financial Secretary: to the War Office, born in 1881. has followed tho calling of a miner since he was 13 years old. He has been a Wesleyan local preacher for some yeans. As a trade urSon delegate he prc-jved an active propagandist. He.was, elected to the Durham County Councifi'n 1913, and alderman in 1919. He unsuccessfully contested the Seaham seat at the General Election of 1918, but.the following year entered Parliament for the Chester-le-Street Division o£ Durham. Mr. Benjamin Charles Spoor, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury 'and Chief Whip, member for the Bishop Auckland Division of Durham was Acting Chief Whip when the party was in opposition. He joined Ike Independent Labour Party more than 20 years ago, 'and has been secretary of the National Peace Council.

Major C. R. Attlee, Under-Secretary for War, member for Limehouse Division of Stepney, was a barrister at 23, and later joined the Fabian' Society and 1.L.P., working "ith'Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb in their Poor Law campaign.' He joined the Inns of Court O.T.'C. in ISI4, saw service at Gallipoli, Kut,,'and France, and saw Armistice Day in Wandsworth Hospital. After the war ho became first Labour Mayor of Stepney, and has been one of Mr. Macdonald's Parliamentary private secretaries Mr. Sydney Arnold, Under-Secretary. for the- Colonies, Liberal M.P. for Holm firth Division of West Biding, later called Peristoe Division, from 1912 to 1921, has occupied several political offices, chief of which private secretary to President of the Board of Education and to the Tinancial Secretary tv the Treasury. Hfe does n,ot at present occupy a seat in the House, of Commons Mr. Arthur Ponsonby, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, is the only man who has come out of the splendours of -i Court, the priivleggs of the Diplomatic Service, and the inner circle of a politi- i

cal party, to be a Labour member of J arhament. Born in 1871, as a boy he was for some time page to Queen Victoria «nd as a young man, after Eton and Malliol, he spent nine years in the diplomatic Service. After unsuccessfully contesting Taunton as an advanced Liberal, he became, private secretary to Sir ■Henry Campbell-Bannerman, when the latter was Prime Minister. When that statesman died Mr. Ponsonby succeeded him as membja' for Stirling Burghs. Turning to Labour, his electorate repudiated him and he was returned in 1922 for .the Brightside Division of Sheffield.

Professor Robert Richards, Under-Sec-retary for India, member for Wrexham secured the seat" in 1922. He is Professor of Economics at Bangar University. To have attained to that chair' and a seat in Parliament while still a young man (he was born in 1884) argues uncommon qualities. Mr. Rhys John Davies, Under-Secre-tary for Home Affairs,-is another mcmi b'er of the Labour Party .who lias work;ed underground as a miner. He is today national secretary of the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers' Approved Society, with the interests of 35,000 workers in his care. He has been a member of the Manchester City.Council for ten years. He unsuccessfully contested West Salford in 1918, but wa3 returned for the West Houghton Division of Lancashire at a by-election in October, 1921. He is author of several published works on Labour and economic'subjects. ' . . . . j Mr. James Stewart, Under-Secretary for Health, was born in a Glasgow slum area and for years has fought for the rights of the workers to better housing. In 1891 he joined the Fabian Society and was elected to Parliament in 1922," as member for the St.. Rollox Division of Glasgow. Mr./ Charles G. Ammon, Parliamentary Secretary (to the Admiralty, has specialised during his period in* Parliament mostly on matters pertaining to Education, and the Post Office. He began life as a telegraph messenger, 'and spent 20 years in the service. He was a British delegate to the-American Federation of Labour in 11915, and five years later he was at Washington as British representative at the World Brotherhood Congress. He is a J.P., a "Wesleyan local preacher, and member for North C^fhherwell since 1922. | Mr. Walter R. Smith, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, was organiser of the National Union of Boot'and Shoe operatives, and president of the Rural Workers and Agricultural Labourers' Union. He represents the Wellingbor r ough Division of Northamptonshire in parliament. ■ '

Mr. A. V. Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, Cooperative member for the Hillsborough Division of Sheffield,' gained the seatxfor the Liberals in 1922. He is 37 years old, and started-work when "only 13 years. The Co-operative movement has claimed much of his attention, and, he was for many years a Baptist lay preacher. He holds the commission of Captain in the Army, and keeps himself fit with football, swimming, and tennis.

Mr^ Morgan Jones, Parliamentary Secretary for Education, member for' Caerphilly, is the first conscientious objector'to gain a seat in the British; Parliament. He entered the House at a by-election in August, 1922, and already has a reputation for clean and forcible speeches on local government and education. He was one o.f eight men who were prosecuted for publishing. the famous "Repeal the Act" leaflet, and was arrested under the Conscription Act, his period of detention lasting until the Armistice period. ,Six. months after the war he.was arrested as a deserter and detained at Aldershot for many months. Despite this he has won and held his seat by.big majorities.