NEW MINISTERS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 134, 8 June 1935, Page 9

NEW MINISTERS

SOME PERSONAL NOTES

At the age of 17 when the World War broke out, Mr. Anthony Eden, Minister. in Charge of * League of Nations AJlairs, joined the Kingls Royal Rifle Corps in 1915, became a captain and won the Military Cross, and saw a good deal of service in the Near East, where he became interested in Oriental languages. Back to civil life in 1919, he entered Oxford University, where he specialised in these languages, winning flrst-class honours, the highest possible scholastic attainment. He immediately turned to politics upon receiving his degree, was elected a member of Parliament as a Conservative, and made his debut in international affairs when he became Parliamentary Private Secretary, to the then Foreign •Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain., When the National Government swept the polls, he became Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and made distinctly more of the position than any of his predecessors. He accompanied Sir John Simon, Foreign Secretary, on many missions to Geneva, and when Sir John was not able to leave London, the task of representing Great Britain was shifted to the shoulders of Captain Eden. HiS'reputation increased swiftly. His Parliamentary training served him in good stead, he has become known as one of the best debaters in Geneva, and he has shown himself as a patient negotiator and a hard worker. Speaking adequate French, he is a good mixer with foreigners, and Ms friendly and informed manner, has heightened his prestige.

Sir Samuel Hoare, the new Foreign [Minister, was born in 1880 in London. He took a first class in history at Oxford, and sat for Chelsea as early as 1910, in his thirtieth year. He served as captain in the Norfolk Yeomanry during the war, and became Secretary of State for Air in the Conservative Cabinet of 1922, after the fall of the Lloyd George Coalition. He was not at first a member of Cabinet, but his work attracted the attention of the leaders, arid he was given a seat in Cabinet early after, in 1923. For a short spell he was out of office while the Labour Ministry held the reins, and he was welcomed back heartily on all hands in 1924 when Mr. Baldwin, after the General Election, again came to power. In 1931 he became Secretary of State for India. He has done his full share to bring the Royal Air Force to the remarkable all-round efficiency which now marks it.

One of the outstanding figures in education circles in England is Lord Eustace Percy, who was president of the Board of Education in 1924-29, after serving in Mr. Baldwin's previous Ministry as Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health. He has been a member of the House of Commons since 1921. He is a scion of the house of Percy, one of the most famous in English history, the head branch of which are the Dukes of Northumberland, a title which has existed for centuries and which links these, modern years with those of the Middle Ages. Included among the famous names of the family are those of Sir Henry Percy, commonly, known as "Hotspur," who was killed at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. while many others have also died ,on the field of battle. As a family they were staunch to the Lancastrian cause during the War of the Roses, for which reason Edward IV took away the title and estates and gave them to Lord Montagu, a brother of Warwick the King-maker. Lord Eustace Percy has published a number of books on education and politics. ,

The Marquess of Zetland was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and travelled widely before entering politics as Conservative member for the Hornsey Division of Middlesex in 1907. In 1917-22 he was Governor of Bengal and he was a member of the Round Table Conference of 1930-31. and of the Select Committee on India of 1933. He has been a president of many societies relating to Asia and India and has written on sport, politics, and travel. He is chairman of the National Trust and a Governor of the National Bank of Scotland.

Mr. Malcolm Mac Donald is the son of Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald and was bom in 1901. He was educated at Petersfield and at Oxford and twice contested a seat before he was elected to the House of Commons in 1929. In 1931 he remained with his father when the Labour Party went into opposition and became Parliamentary Under-Sec-retary of the Dominions Office. He visited New Zealand last year.

Mr. Alfred Ernest Brown, the new Minister of Labour, was born at Torquay in 1881. He is the Liberal M.P. for Leith. He began to speak on Liberal platforms while still at school and was a Baptist lay preacher when fourteen years old. In 1914 he enlisted in the Sportsmen's Battalion and received a commission in the Somerset Light Infantry in 1916. He was mentioned in dispatches arid received the Military Cross and the Italian Silver Stud for Valour. In November, 1931, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry Of Health, and was made Secretary of the Mines Department in 1932.