In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 144, 21 June 1930, Page 28

In the Public Eye

Mr. K. B. Bemiett. 1 Opposed to Mi. Mackenzie King in the Canadian General "Election is a man who thiee yeais ago was almost unknown.outside the; confines of his own particular trrutoij. Toijism in Canada found its nei\ champion when days were daik and the. put-

look anything but hopeful. The Conser\atx\es have been in the wild-, einoss of Opposition foi •'■: some jears, and their leadei faces a stiff task, in his attempt to upset a solid Liberal Government. Mr. B. B. Bennett is an cntiiely new

type m public. htc, certainly so far as Canada is concerned. Ho is an cxticmely wealthy lawjer, and it is said that personal wealth has never earned a man very far in Canadian polities, and at times it has been a handicap. The selection of Mr. Bennett, however, brought -to the forefront of Canadian affairs a man who has had a pictuiesque career. " A village boy from Xcw Brunswick, Mr. Bennett s'tudxed law while teaching school, and by sheoi intellectual dnv. iiig foice he climbed, always with a clear vision of political peaks. In the late 'nineties he wont west, ami out,in, the "growing Province of Alberta, he j was soon knotwi as a boy oiator, .and befoic he was thirty was.a lnemberof tho Legislatuio of the Noith-wesi; Territories. Abovo everything else lit. Bennett is a Tory of the militant typo, with a deeply imbued reveience for the British Pailiamentary system and British law. Yet tin economic mattersMhe shows a shrewdl independence of ;yiew. lln the House of Commons a ycanor two ago he put forward, as a piivate'member, a unique scheme for the settlement of Canada's vast national debt. It involved'; the Government's sharing in a certain maigm of the profits made by insurance companies, with an apparently cumulative effect of turning many millions- into the country's Treasury and wiping out the. national obligation m a comparatively short period of years. Orthodox financial circles: gasped at' the originality1 .of the1 proposal, but to the Press and to the people it appeared sound" enough,; and Mr. Bennett's .prestige arose accordingly. With this exception, the new Tory Leader has niade no departures from the. accepted traditions of his party's history. Mr. Bennett combines curiously an EaslernCanadian education with a Western Canadian career; yet his business interests are chiefly in the lumber trade, of Central Canada. In the House of Commons ho represents the constituency of Calgary "West—a district that includes part of the City; o£ Calgary tand' reaches, out into, the Rockies, embracing the famous Banff • Mountain; resort. To-day, he is the only/Conservative;member;; of Parliament representing; a constituency between the.ihea'd of vthe; Great Lakes and the Eoekies. Since'the war Quebec has three times overwhelmingly rejected Conservatism,-and it is this province that;the< Tories seek to win.; Thought of Quebec undoubtedly; influenced-fthb choice of Mr. Beunottj; who is one of the few prominent Conservative Parliamentarians .who has not at; some timo antagonised! the race' sensitiveness of Fiench-Canadi'ans. The Conservatives have staggered-under thveo defeats in general, elections .since tho war, and these have not helped'the morale of tho lank and file. .The national convention of 1927 stimulated, a new Interest, and the selection of .Mr. • (Bennett as . the McaSer indicated "a"; real virility. Mr.' Bennett is famous as a prairie political leader, as the most eligiblo: of bachelors, and as a director, of some of tho greatest "Canadian corporations,' including Imperial Oil; ana: tho E.*;B. Eddy Com-pany^—-a" large .lumber concdrn of whose stock.he-inherited a large part., ~'.' .. Mr. John 'Masefield n ::r-;; ,^:;-'i 7^-:fi'-< .■■-.' v "The King,''•.' has;-liee'ii'.. ;'graciqusls\ pleased* to 'appoint Johii.iMasefierd, Usq., D.Litt., to be Poet'^Laureate.'in Oidinary to His Majesty in tlie'room' of Eobert Bridges, Esq., 0.M., D.Litt.,1 M.A.; deceased." It was in these words

\that. tho . an-nouncement-was made, ;'.iii- . the /'London . GaY ,;'ette?-J .-..-• onv 9th May that; John Masefield had become. ; .-, Poet Laureate. • Born in. Liverpool 55 years -ago, John -. Masefield; filled at; various times' the roles, of sail-, ~, or> .'bar-tender,

■■..'•'.■' : '.. ■''■', and; beachcomber before gaining world-wide renown as a novelist and poet. Mr. Mascfield went to sea as a youth.and sail-. Ed before the mast in the sailing ships' he has written of so wonderfully in his;"Salt-Water Ballads." He has undergono'hardships almost as. great as those experienced by the heroes of his adventure novels. He left a ship in New York and tobk to the road in America. He. worked as a bar-tender for a time, arid ','beachcomber" in 'many.parts of the United States. "When he came back to England he did "hack work. till"success came to hini. In the late {'nineties, wheil Mr. Masefield was wandering round New York hurir Igry and^'penniless, he was given a'job I by- Luke'O'Connor, the owner of a'fani-. lous hotel and cabaret.' The poet's | job Vwas .to polish the brasswork'• '.in the hotel and: do : the shopping,- clean the. glass and the windows, and, among other things, when customers became iinwianted guests, help, to pacify., tlieni. His first published work was a collection of songs of the sea he knows and loves so well. The collection included that famous poem, '^1 must go down to.the.sea, again," which has been set to music by John. Ireland and sung/ all over the "world. His experience'at sea was useful to him-in more ways' than one. When Mr. Granville Barker badly needed some sea chanties for his production' of Shaw's"Captain Brasshound's Conversion,'' ho was saved at tho la.st moment by' a deck han"d in a windjammer1, who in his spare time had composed sea songs and the music for them. The.shabby lad interviewed Mr. Barker, and whistled his composition. He was asked his name, ■■_ It was Jcrtm Mascfield. His first play, the '' Camp-:.' den Wonder," was produced shortly afterwards. His early narrative poems, "The.Tragedy of, Nan," "Tho Widow in the Bye Street," and "Tho Everlasting Mercy" attracted attention by, their blunt language and forthrightness. Early ho declared his artistic affinity with ."the man with too weighty a burden . . . the slave "with the sack on 'his shoulders pricked on with the goad." Although he used tho language of thefo'c'sle and tho bar, he expressed in true poetry his compassion for and understanding of human tribulation. His highest achievement in narrative poetry is "Keynard the Fox," which is alive with the sights, sounds, and movement of the English countryside.- It,.is one of .the finest pictures; of the Bnglisli eouutr.yside that has ever been painted. One'of the best known .of his recent novels is "Sard Harker," a thrilling story of adventure i» tropical forest^ and

jungle deeps, and another magnificent jfieco of narrative Tvas Ms short story, " The-Flight of' Helen." lii the theatre ■Mr: Masefleld has a. gift for high tragedy; His "Nan" is terrible, his "Ppinpey the Great" is a noble piece of writing. One of *' his Nativity 'plays was performed last year in Canterbury. Cathedral. Mr. Masefield lives quietly at Boar's Hill, near Osford, in a picturesque home, which overlooks tho. Berkshire hills from one side and Oxford; from the other. Ho has built for himself a small theatre in his garden, where much of his work has been played. Mr. Masefield married in 1903, and has two children,.a son and'a daughter; :* ." '•• ;' The Eight Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King. ■ Canada is. at present in the throes iof a .General Election, and. the Liberal Leader, the. Right Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King, who is also Prime Minister, opened.'.his '. campaign this' week at Brantford,! Ontario, during > ■'.-■■'■. •: ' which he is report-j

Ed to have stated tliat, the Government's Budget and its representations ■• at the Liberal and' Economic •Conferences would; be the major issues (Jurhig'tno '.campaign. MiI. 'King many years ago ■was. 3cnb.wnV-.as! "on.c; of Laurier's

young men," and

./ '•■ .■■•■(■; ;■ :-V ■'■-.;•■'." ■" }-eveirto-day•there; are some '-pe'op3.e'- Vi'hu\refer "»to him -in : this manner', though many years have passed'in ■ the interval. ;He was the youngest member of the Cabinet which ■:£ellvwith its "chief" in 1911, : but since, then; he has taken/up:-ttie;;fight,; and under'his aegis the .party ;is stronger thai e\ei. He is of the real old Lib eral fighting stock of the great Dominion, his giandfather on hia mother's side being tho famous William Lyon Mackenzie, an ardent reformer of 80 years ago, whose lifelong battle against special privileges and the abuses of his day led up to the rebellion of 1837 in Uppei Canada, or Ontano, a rising which foi the moment was seemingly abortne, but in leahty saved Canada for the Dmpue by securing that mea. iine of autonomy foreshadowed by tho famous Duiban Report. Though but 47 yi.ars ot >ge when he came to the highest political position in. Canada —he is now 36 \e<us old—he biought to that office a upe eypenpiiec He had been in public li±e foi more th in. twenty years, and ho' hdd dlrcadv made foi himself an international reputation as an authonty on economic and labonr questions. While ho was in charge of tho Labour policy of the Goa eminent, fiist as Deputy Ministoi and latei as Mimstei with a seat in the Cabinet, he letamedtthe full confidence of all classes, employeis and woikers alike, and his judicious handling of all difficulties gave those with whom he came m contact confidence. His gieat success was in tho operation of the Lemieui. Act, compelling arbitiatj.on before a stuko or lockout could bo deelaied. Mi. Mackenzie King was born m 1874 in Berlin, now Kitchener, Ontano. Ho was educated at Toionto University, being one of tho most brilliant students of his day. He is stmdily built, a determined and effective oratoi, his appeal being more to tho emotions than to tho ieason. He has not i great deal ot debating skill, but he has gieat enthusiasm tor his cause, and he can almost invariably cany his audience with him When Wiltnd Lauriei died sfr. Mackenzio King was selected leadci of the Liberal Paify at a gieat national convention held m Ottawa, getting^ the solid sup poit oi the Quebec Liberals. Mi. King is an Imperialist, as was Launer. He is for "unity, peace, and concord" in the Empiie. He never thinks of a futuie ioi Canada outside the association of the British Lmpue, •vet as a truo and lo&poeteil friend of the United tStatos he is for a bcttci understanding be tween his, own countiy and the neigh bounng Republic Mr. A. E. W, Compston., By winning tho thiei prize in the £1500 tournament at Bnkdale, Lan edbhtre, last month, Aichie Compston clinches his light to bo considered one of the woild'i. great golfers. His aggicgate foi tho course was 283, four stiokes bcttei than the figures

of Ilemy Cotton, the Langley Park golf professional; and ;Hort on Smith, a United States: ■■ professional, both- of whom scored 259. for second place. In his distinguished .'car: uer Compston

has achieved, all manner of wone'rful feats,- notably the smashing, defeat of AY^Ol. Hagen at Moor Park a coiiple,:of years ago. • ..But lie: surpassed himself in the early part of last month over the exacting sand dunes of Birkdale, on the- Lancashire coast. Compston, -with, his great raking stride, resembles in temperament that famous golfer James Braid, especially in: the manner in which he triumphs over bad golfipg' weather —rain ar wind. At Bifkdale-: he struck bad weather, but' he marched breast forward from, the" teo and through the green, always far and sure.' in drive and; second shots, deadly :in: his approach, and unerring in his ;puttrng. His splendid consistency,, in this as in other . matches brought him through to win the chief prize of £.200. arid a gold medal. Compstonia now 37 years old, and was born atv- ; ' TVolverhampton. -V He _ finished eighth in the open championship in 1920, and reached the semi-final of tEe Gleneagles tournament in 1922, winning it in 1925, and also taking the professional 'golfers? championship the same year. He was runner-up in the Eoehampton tournament of 1925, occupying a similar position in the Leeds One Thousand Guineas Tournament : the previous . year. Theso were compen-; sated for, however,'by the fact that he won.Jhe "News of the ."World" tourna-' mentV with' its : big prize-money .of •£ißoo in 1925 and 1927. In 1927 he finished twenty-third in the British Open, which was won by the American Bobby: Jones,rand the following year he was third1 to ; Walter Hagen and Gene ■ Sarazeii, the scores of the two Americans being 292 and 294= respectively, whilo; Compston was one stroke worss. Last year, at Muirfield, lie was twelfth in the open, Hagen winning with the same score as he put. up in 1928j but Compston was twelve strokes down on his score of tho previous, year. ; His favourite shot is with the clock, and he is reported to have done the ninth hole at Heaton Park course, Manchester, in one stroke, considered: no mean feat in England. Compston is : an- unattached professional, ;,who teaches on the links of tho Manchester Golf Club at Higher Crumpsall. ■•■■He-is-is a hurricane on the links, and his keenness and determination are awe-inspiring. At tho critical stage of a match ho : has been seen 'to tear off tiis'coataud. waistcoat,'.fling them to the -caddie, and shape as if he meant '.'to engage h:'« rival in twenty rounds of boxing instead of one round i of. coif,' •■ ' " ;■■",-;••■•■