ELECTION COMEDY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 24, 29 January 1927, Page 8

ELECTION COMEDY

THE MOSLEYS'CAM-; PAiaN

RICH CHAMPION POOR !

WHY NOT -'LEVEL DOWN".?

(From Our Own Correipondwit.) 11 LONDON, 15th December., 7 Mr. Oswald Mosley, referred to asr" the elegant Socialist," is, at Smethwick (Staffs!) carrying O n a Parliamentary 1 by-election campaign, caused-' by the retirement of Mr. J. Davison, the. Socialist member: It is to be a three-sided contest. With Mr. Mosley: ' is his wife, Lady Cynthia (one of tne* " daughters of the late Marquess Cur-^- ' zon), but pro tern, she prefers to style""' herself "plain Mrs. Mosley," while her" husband, "Comrade" Mosley, referred T. to- her at a meeting of constituents the other day as his "missus." Both have, naturally, come in for a good deal of publicity in connection with their canvassing, and recorders" cannot help making comparisons as -to""----their natural place in the universe and,' , the position which they .have selected, for themselves meanwhile. One reads,'" too, a good deal ' about the " Red" Squire", and the country house which- • has lately been bought by "Mrs." Mos- ;.. ley and upon which a number of work.-... ers are engaged while tbeir owners .are. railing against the "idle rich"-and". commiserating with, their, wretchedly-; housed "comrades." Launching her campaign as a Socialist orator in support of her husband, Lady Cynthia announced that she had decided to he known as "just plain. Mrs. .Mosley" for the purposes of the election. "Friends," she said, "I want •• to talk to you about the miserable conditions you are in, all through this rotten, miserable, inefficient,' and incompetent Governments" ■'■•"'....■ This, notes a local correspondent, was in. the proper proletarian manner of the "Mrs. Mosley" of the election, 'but -. suddenly she became. Lady Cynthia of ' Mayfair. "Of course,.'-'.she said, with a contemptuous gesture/ "there aro' people who have such a gorgeous time under this system that' they do not' want to change it. The idle rich do! nothing for their :inoney,» She painted ' a picture .of the '.'lucky . few" who' hate, an income of £1000 a week and' of a duke whose income she. put at £1 a minute. . .. ' -'-■ "WE LABOUR PEOPLE." v "My friends," she went on, "my; husband wants to change all that. They, .say it is brains,that brings them their wealth, but some of-these rich people have no brains at all. They just inherited it, while you poor people who 1 work have a miserable rotten wage. It makes my bloQdboil as I see it all—and it is all because of these Conserva- . tives and Liberals who are responsible^ • for everything. Labour people ■ want to sweep away this horrible' system under which the ■ workers are blackmailed by starvation into surrender. We want a change, and, if you ■send my husband, a Labour man, to Parliament with a thumping big majority you will scare this Government. He does want a change. He will work hard for it. He will do Ms best ; to get the. workers'jolly good "jobs, and ■ homes, and the really good time they: ought to have." ; "?. Mr. Mosley, the "elegant .Socialist,'/ as he is styled, opened a mass meeting, which is thus described: "In a, manner, becoming'the surroundings, Mr. Mos-.\. ley made a dramatic, impassioned, - ■sometimes pathetic-appeal to' be xegard7ed by his hearers as a^ real, red-blood-ed Socialist.' He was immaculatelydressed. By his side sat Lady Cynthia . elegantly gowned.: She : ibmbvsed her magnificent fur coat: during the meeting and revealed a charming '■ dress from which brilliants sparkled on the cuffs. It was in striking contrast, to the appearance of the audience. There wa? a little touch of comedy -when. thej .- chairman announced that for tha pnri • poses of the election Lady 'Oyuthia' would be known: to the electors simpljjas Mrs.; Mosley, butVexplained, '.'thereare so many ladies in Smethwick that I am going to give her a Socialist title, just plain, Mrs. Mosley." Lady Cynthia blushed and looked confused.' "IN THE: PAY OF RUSSIA.'.' •■ He had begun in the typical Social-"• isfc style, fiercely denouncing the Goveminent ''as the most incompetent. • the most treacherous in British - Ms- '■• tory." He looked round and'waited for/ the applause, which ultimately came: : Then he talked of the "dark days o£test and ordeal," and suddenly flashed out what he appeared'to regard as Ms trump card—the that the Government was out' to reduce the wages of all workers. He emphasised! his Socialist leanings by remarking:' "You know that every one of us oi the platform is in the'pay of Bussiai don't you? My -pockets are bulging with orders from-Moscow. Bed Robert's pockets bulging with red gold! £'■'■ have got used to seeing myself carica-. tuned in Russia^ boots. I did not mind . when I read that Hady Oxford wears*... them too." .■■■.■ Soon afterwards -Mr. Mosley intro--' duced another appealing note. "I have a deep feeling of sympathy for the ■ workers," he exclaimed. "The finger*. of starving children in'the mining vil-, lages of the country are clutching at - our hearts and asking you to fight for them." With . outstretched hands he> declared that he was. sacrificing him-" self and his position for the workers/, who would make a great mistake i&f they failed him in'this election. One of Mr.. Mosley's first steps to carry conviction with the electors waa^ to remove from a fashionable hotel to modest rooms. He began one of his speeches by suggesting that while he could not himself be described as a workman,, all classes could be of service to the workers by fighting this wicked Government. He declared that while the Government had made the load of the rich lighter they had made' the conditions of the worker worse' than at any time in the history of the country. "I want to see you all- get big wages and good houses. I am going ,to fight this election on these two is-, sues—the Tory attack on wages and" the attempt to destroy trade unions. s?' The. women in the ■ audience laughed" when he said they ought to get more~ money to spend, and one of them remarked: "Try us with some!" Mr. Mosley, who was wearing a smartly cut dark lounge suit with a gold chain, did not take the hint, but proceeded to expound his theories for making a new world in which conditions would be reversed. Eeferring to the fashionable gown worn by his "missus," he said it was only an old one that she had bought in India., At which the women gasped! Lady Cynthia, comments a London „ editor, "is not alone in wishing to have the best of all words. Most yearn, at some time or other, for social eminence. Probably, on the other hand, many men whose titles occupy an inch or two of small typo in the reference books would bo glad on occasion to enjoy the untrammelled freedom of a simple 'Mr.' But it is generally recog-. nised that one cannot have it all ways, and.only, the aristocratic Socialist claims the right at once to enjoy and deride his social' distinction. 'Plain. I.Mrs.' Mosley' would probably be quite' annoyed if," in another circle, she were." " Tofused the deference she contemptu- ..' ously. disclaims at Smethwick." \