In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 24, 29 January 1927, Page 26

In the Public Eye

Mr. Matthew Charlton. • For some months now there have been signs of ■ dissatisfaction with the leadership of the Federal Labour Party, atad on several occasions threats have, been made towards a change of leadership, in which position. Mr. Matthew Charlton has not altogether ' ' " givien. satisfaction to the rank :iud file of the movement in the Commonwe alt h . Dissension first appeared in August of last year when the referendum proposals were being jSlaccd before the people. At that time Labour itself was very divided in regard .to the matter, audtho Australian Labour Party, under the presidency of Mr." Scale, issued an ultimatum to Mr. Charltou and other Federal members who were supporting the referendum to the effect that if they continued to support Mr. Bruce's proposals it would be 1 regarded as a disloyal act. Mr. Charlton replied that although the party was in a position to expel members, it could only be done subject to review by a State conference and ultimately by a Federal conference. The immediate result to Mr. Charlton was not nearly so serious as it sounded, and nothing was done in regard to tho matter, 1 though the seeds of dissension were sown, which may ultimately tead to the Federal leader leaving the party, ■'. just as Mr. W. M. Hughes left ■and- became a separate entity. Mr. Charlton has all along, taken a very definite stand in connection with Imperial defence, stating that Australia could not afford to be involved in,the quarrels of Europe, and that' Australians would lose their confidence in the future of the Empire if they were again compelled to send soldiers away without having been first of all consulted., He strenuously opposed the Singapore base, as being an invitation to war, and.^juite unnecessary so far.as Australia was! concerned.' Mr. Charlton is a politician of considerable ability, a clever and, versatile speaker, and one having the courage of his convictions, his outspokenness on several occasion^ causing-friction in a party which does, not apparently believe in the.free hand. As a leader he, however, continues to hold the confidence of most 1 of the Labour members of the Federal House. >

Baton Kijuro Shidehara. During the present troublous days in China the eyes of the Empire are more or less centred on. Baron Kijuro ShideJiara, the; Japanese Foreign Minister, and the decision of Japan one way or the other will have a very important bearing on the ultimate fate of the negotiations between China and the treaty nations. Already Japan lias declined to make a naval or military demonstration, against China, which gives some little indication, of her people's line of thought. Baron Shidehara, who speaks on. behalf of the Government under the present conditions, graduated many years ago at the Imperial University at Tokio, later, entering the Japanese Department 'of Agriculture and Commerce. His taste, however, was for'diplomacy,.and he studied and passed a diplomatic and consular service examination. , This brought him, at the age of 28,: the post of Consul at London, but four years later he was summoned back to Tokio to become director of the fledgling bureau of legal affairs, which is attached to the Foreign. Office. In 1912 Baron. Shidehara went to Washington as legal adviser to the .Embassy, was later transferred to Lon-; don, and in 1914 became Minister Pleni-: ipotentiary to the Netherlands. From this post he was recalled to be appointed? Vice-Minister of the Foreign- Department, from which cfflce he received the diplomatic crown of the Washington Embassy, one of the great offices of the Japanese Foreign Service. Baron Shidehara is even now only about 50 years .old, arid- Tokio has the greatest confidence in him, while he lias made a more) than ' favourable impression in London and -Washington. He is big built for a. Japanese,, and broad shouldered. His face is studious, and he has few of the racial characteristics wHch mark most of the sons of Nippon. He has discovered the secret of affability without the appe.aranee of obsequiousness, which so often alarms the Westerner in his relations with the Oriental. Baron;Shidehara ib a thorough.Japanese,; but he understands the line of thought' of the West, and his deliberations and conversations on matters of diplomacy are accorded due consideration both at Tckio and by the Governments of Foreign countries. Mr. George Hicks. .

About tie'middle of last September Mr. George Hicks,'general secretary of the Amalgamated Union of British Building Trade Workers, was 'appointed chairman of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, quite frequently referred to as T.U.C. He "succeeded Mr. Arthur Pugh, who waa leader of the council at the time when it was decided to launch the general strike last year as an aid to the miners in their struggle with the owners. It has now fallen to the duty of Mr. Pugh's sucr cessor to occupy the chairmanship during the period when the general strike has come under review, and to,give his verdict as a. result of the 'finquest" which Labour is holding into the alleged delinquencies of some of its leaders during the strike. This he has done, fully vindicating their actions. Mr. Hicks belongs to the Left Wing of the British Labour movement. Some months ago he was active in promoting an alliance with the Communist unions of Russia, but towards the end of last year he fell under the censure of the Bolsheviks, along with the rest of the members of the council' of the Trades Union Congress, the greatest fault against them, from the Russian standpoint/ being that they had failed 1 to turn the .general strike into revolutionary channels. The strangest point about Jlr. Hicks's election to the office of chairman.is,that.he is the leading official of a union which, by its secession from the National Federation of British BuiMirfg Trade Operatives, acted in direct contravention of the council's policy of fostering the amalgamation of the unions organising the men of one industry under one control. Mr. Hicks has for many, yearp been a very staunch advocate of better housing conditions for the workers ol England, and during the' course of the National Housing Conference held at Bournemouth last

September, ho declared that the fringe of the housing problem had hardly been touched. He further stated that the proposed : subsidy under' the Whcatley scheme was the most practicable proposition that had' ever been put forward by any Government. Sir Quintln Hogg. r Born almost within the portals of the Regent Street Polytechnic, and trained during his boyhood days in London's greatest school, for. the middle-class, Sir Douglas Hogg has amply fulfilled the promise of his' early scholastic years. He is the son of the late Mr. Quintin Ho g.g, head and founder of the Polytechnic and succeeded his father to some extent in its direction, following the' profession of law for his real call- .' ing. Aa a politician lie is but young, though actually 54 years old, for he did not enter the House of Commons until 1922, when he was returned unopposed for Marylebone in succession to Major Sir S. E; Scott, who had 1 decided to' retire from politics. Sir Douglas Hogg, broad, expansive, and genial, has something Dickensian in his outward appearance. There are' some. lawyers, j practised speakers as most of them, are, who never fit into" the order of things at Westminster, but Sir Douglas M'Garel Hogg—to give him his full name—is not one, of them.- When elected he went straight.to the Treasury Benches as Attorney-General in. Mr, Baldwin's Cabinet, which office he has held continuously ever since, except for a peridd_ when Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald sensationally led his party into Downing Street, to remain there for a few months only. So far as personal appearance goes Sir Douglas has a good deal in common with Mr. Winston Churchill. More rotund and a little more generously proportioned, he has the same sort of big-bodied figure. There is, too,, a hint of facial resemblance, and both of them have the knack of smiling with an kir of most cherubic innocence. Men who know them get ready to see the feathers fly when they do that. Last week, in dealing with the present trouble in China during the course of a speech in the East-End of London, he said that Britain hoped to negotiate an honourable understanding with the Chinese authorities, but people must be prepared to face the alternative, and this has been his policy all the time since he accepted_ office—negotiation first, then, if that fails, the smashing blow of reprisal.

Marquess of Crewe. Statesmanship and letters have not infrequently walked side.by aide in the .progress of English history, one of the most rq.cent examples of these combined talents in the' one person being that of the Marquess of Crewe,, British Ambassador to France. This office may be considered as the greatest "plum" • within the power ■of the Foreign 'Office; :to^confer ; upon, its leading diplomats, and the . ■ - : "appointment as Ambassador to France sets the seal on the career of even the most brilliant men. Art connoisseur, bibliophile, and something of a poet, the Marquess of Crewe has not- Jed any definite line of thought in English affairs, and he is not ono of England's well-known politi-i .cians,: neither'is he one: who has fought iikthe forefront of 't.he political battle, father has'Se been'willing-to lead in -a quieter way, using his . influence in behalf of partyj projects inj all sorts of ways. Through Mr. Asquith's first Administration he was Letader of the House of Lords, and also-during the period of the Coalition-.Government in 1915 and 1916. •He .was ■ never Lord Granville's- equal; in the difficult and delicate task of .endeavouring to win the peers'assent; to a Succession of un- . palatable measures of v Badical reform, but he contrivedy-rby-his courtesy and charm, to retain their liking and respect throughout the critical period which began with the Budget of 1909. He 1; was responsible for the acts of policy announced at the Delhi Durbar, which he attended .with the King and Queen in'l9ll as Secretary of State for India, and for the removal of the capital of India from. Calcutta to Delhi; Prior to the coronation of the King .he was an earl, but-during the ceremony was honoured with a marquisate. When the "rot", first started in the ranks of the Liberal-Party, as a result mainly of the quarrels .between Lord Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George; the ■'. Marquess of Crewo declined to take office under the Welsh leader,. and afterwards continued to lead the Independent Liberals in the House of Lords.

Dr. Kazys Orinius. Becently a coup d'etat was carried out in Lithuania, and the Government changed hands in tho manner so often practiced in the.' smaller States of .'■■:■•" Europe, where military influence playa a very prominent part in politics. Although the personnel 'of , the Cabinet was changed as a result, of the coup, Dr. Kazys Grinius - retained the Presidency of- the State, and it is extremely likely, from reports •to hand, -that his was the hand -which moved the pieces in the whole episode. The official leader of the movement, was professor Augustine Valdemaras, reported to have stated at. the. time that the dismissed Ministry was:too pro-Eussian and was steering the country towards a catastrophy, and who' took over the Premiership. His first ;act was to confirm Dr. Grinius as President of Lithuania, he having been first inducted in June of last year, following his election a few days previously. Dr. Grinius is a wellknown European publicist, who has all along been, closely associated with a strong movement for Lithuanian independence. As a prominent leader of the Peasants' Union he became Prime Minister ,in June, 1920, leading a Coalition Cabinet, which included representatives of nearly all the most active political parties in the State, the Minister - of. Foreign Affairs being Dr. J. Purizkis, a Christian Democrat. Dr. Grinius remained in office until February of 1922, when he was replaced by M. B. Galvanauskas, a nonparty leader, who had been Minister of Finance in the Coalition Cabinet. It seemed at the time "■ as though Dr. Grinius had passed over the political horizon, but his influence continued to play a very great part in the affairs of the country, culminating' in his election to the honour of President, an office which certainly carries with it many dangers, in these minor European States.-. '■ ■'■ ■' •" a. : ; : :~- ■• r