In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1935, Page 27

In the Public Eye

There are few more romantic episodes in these ultra-modern times than that an Eastern potentate, who claims descent in a direct line from Ali, by. his wife Fatima, daughter of the Prophet, should not only win the 1935 Derby, but should be the dominating figure in the English racing world today. ■ ( In the old days, the owner of the Derby winner was either s King or a: great English nobleman. Ot recent years the race ' has beetT won by *he Aga Khan (twice), by' the expoliceman Tom Walls, and by an Indian Rajah who- vyon it last year. But though the Aga Khan is chiefly known as the most commanding figure on the English Turf,. with his.winnings of half a million pounds in stakes, he has other and "greater claims upon the regard of ihe Britisn people. A direct descendant.of Mahomet, the .acknowledged leader of 70,000,000 Ismanli Moslems, the -guide, counsellor, and friend of successive British Governments, in all matters affecting Oriental policy; his Highness Aga Sir Sultan Khan Mohammed Shah, G.C.5.1.. G.C.I.X, LL.D., is one of the most influential, one of the richest, and one of the holiest men in the world today. In Indian politics he is a unique personality. Owning no territory whatever, and in that respect differing from even the most insignificant ghieftain, he wields more influence and his personal prestige exceeds that of the most powerful Maharajah, and even of many reigning sovereigns. - ' It is. not an exaggeration to say that he himself is the greatest religious and political force east of Suez. His worn is law to 70,000,000; the very water in which he washes his hands is preserved and distributed among his followers, and, in the Orient, where pride of birth enshrined in the sacred institution of caste is the foundation of - the social community, the" Aga Khan <s held in almost superstitious awe. His followers are to be found as far west as Morocco, in East Africa, Turkey, Turkestan, Afghanistan U India. - and Arabia. ' '■' ■ ' r:':' When the World War broke out, and when 10,000,000 ;o£-Ismanli. Moslems were wobbling, he immediately issued a manifesto, directing them ■to place themselves unreservedly at the disposal of the British .authorities, '. ■ '■'",' When Turkey Twas drawn into the war, he sent :,out'a stirring message showing thatt'the- Allies had no overt designs on Islam? As a result of. these decisive and peremptory commands, his followers provided a solid phalanx of wholehearted British support His action kept, the Orient quiet, prevented a great Holy War, and, as many think._ saved India from chaos. His great'influence irv the East is equalled; by his prestige in Europe, where his close • and intimate contact, with'■■;>leading statesmen,, his great wealth, his- sporting tsstes. and his rank' as a 'Prince, give him the entree everywhere. ' -. . The limelight was cast on the Aga Khan a few years ago, when he was married to a pretty Parisian dressmaker, Mile. Andree- Charron, 20 years younger than himself. She is! his third wife, and she retains her Roman; Cathof lie faith, while marriedvto the descendant of the Prophet. :• ,«V ; • Today, the Prince, with his round, smiling face and -horn-rimmed spectacles, is a faniiliar figure in England —more familiar than in the East. This polished'Ycosmopolitan,'speaking many languages, possessing, the personal charm of the Oriental, the intimate friend of kings and -princes, has now joined the select little band, including Lord Rosebery and the late King Edward, who have won the Derby twice. , . • ' ;■■.,- Mr/E. P. Bennett; V.C. Two new stipendiary, magistrates have been appointed for London/ Mr. Eugene Paul Bennett, V.C, M.C., and Mr. Clyde Tabor Wilson, M.P. for the West Toxteth Division of Liverpool. They fill the vacancies caused by. the death of Mr. Samuel. Pope, and the-re-, tirement of Mr. Hay Halkett. Mr. Bennett was sworn-in at /the. Law Courts before the public announcement of his appointment had been made from the Home ■Office. Any delay was deemed inadvisable owing to -the present shortage ■ of: magistrates. Mr.' Bennett, who is forty-three, was the first V.C. to be called, to the Bar.' He was educated .at the Marling School," Stroud, Gloucestershire, and later became a member of the staff of the Bank of England. In 1913 he joined the Artists' Rifles as a private, and went to France with the Ist Battalion on the outbreak of war. . He was gazetted to the 2nd. Battalion of the Worcester Regiment in 1915, and in September of that year was awarded the M.C. for work in a coun-ter-a,ttack. He gained mention in dispatches, and in November, 1916, won the V.C. for bravery at Le Transloy. The official account said:— "He was in command of the second wave of the attack. Finding that the first had suffered heavy casualties, its commander killed, and the line wavering,., he .advanced at the head of the second wave, and 'by his personal example of valour and resolution reached the objective with but 60 men. He consolidated his position and, although wounded, he remained in command directing and controlling. He set an example of cheerfulness beyond all praise." / His wounds necessitated his return to England, and the bank presented him with a sword of honour. On his return to civil life he studied for the Bar, and was callad in 1923. In 1930 he was appointed a deputy umpire under the Unemployment Insurance Act, 1920. Mr. Bennett m&rried Miss Violet < Forster, authoress of the song "If ] Wishes were Kisses." ]

Lord Hewart, -. Lord Chief Justice, who is 65, made a pungent reply to the suggestion of a retiring, age for High Court Judges during his evidence before the' Royal Commission on the Dispatch of Business at Common Law. , Born at Bury, Lord Hewart was educated at Manchester and Oxford. He was a member of Parliament for Leicester for nine years, and Attor-ney-General before his elevation to the Bench. "It has been the lot of few men to rise so rapidly," said the Master of the Rolls, when Lord Hewart was sworn in as Lord Chief Justice in 1922—less than twenty years after being called to the Bar at the Inner Temple. He began • his career as a journalist. He' was 32 before he began his work at the Bar, and the speed with which he rose to the highest legal offices was not even exceeded by Lord Birkenhead. Hard work, coupled with an attractive personality, is the secret of Lord Hewart's success. He has frequently acknowledged that his service in the Press, Gallery as a journalist gave him the opportunity to rise to his high position: His speeches are. regarded as models of pure English." Carl Sternheim. Carl Sternheim, the author of ihe play which has just been adapted from the German, by Mr. Ashley DUkes, for performance in London, is one of the most distinguished of modern German writers and critics. He has been associated on the Continent with a form of philosophy concerning itself actively with the political as well as aesthetic features of life, and since his earliest appearance on the scene as a contemporary thinker he has met with the most bitter opposition and continually been confronted with attacks • which have misrepresented all his conceptions of, work. 'He was born on April 1, 1879, in Leipzig—the son of a Jawish Hanoverian banker—his mother was a Lutheran of Leipzig. His father owned the "Hanover Tageblatt" and was the critic for the important theatre performances in that beautiful city, and often took his child with him to gain those first theatrical impressions that made trie foundations of his subsequent career. Later, when the family removed to Berlin where his uncle owned the Belle-Alliance Theatre, Carl Sternheim received a further set of theatre impressions which resulted in the creation of his first drama, "The Iron Cross." , Further plays followed and later the attention" of the famous Reinhardt was drawn to-him; and under the direction of that celebrated producer, Sternheim's first comedy "Die Hose" saw the light in 1911. This very modern play achieved a great literary success but a section of the Press attacked) it with a volume of sarcasm which prevailed over fifteen following years. Over .twenty plays then followed in quick succession, and from the year 1910 'till 1926 Sternheim enjoyed a popularity equalled by few other writers of his character and eminence. The play upon which Mr. Ashley Dukes has based his adaptation—"Die Marquise Yon Arcis" —appeared first in the year 1917. "The Marquise of Arcis" proved a definite success in all the threatres of the Reich, where it was produced for three • consecutive seasons. It is possible even through the elegant costumes- and the flashing of the language, to catch a glimmer of Sternheim's revolutionary ideas. The principal interpreters of the chief parts in Germany were Leopoldine Constantine and Conrad Veidt. . ; . When Sternheim's comedy, "Die Hose" was first produced .in Berlin, the" Commissioner of Police, yon Jagow, refused permission for its publit performance and gave as his reason that it was. detrimental to the public morals. But after he had attended rehearsal in order to examine the piece more thoroughly permission was subsequently given for its production, but- under a different title, "The Giant." • . s :' Up to the time of the German revolution the performance, of most of Sternheim's blays was banned by the censor, but this was a fate that , he shared with another great dramatist of that period, Franz Wedekind. The treatment accorded to the playwright was a transparent manoeuvre behind which lay political hostility. Sternheim has set himself out to in terpret in the narrow confines of the contemporary theatre the modern man. He takes him to pieces, dissects and defines him, and compels him to grapple with the laws of his nature or to perish and be buried amidst laughter. Sternheim possesses a strange personality. He has been dubbed by some of his contemporaries as suffering from "megalomania, insupportable arrogance, impudence, inconsiderateness, lordly snobbism," but in reality all he suffers from is a restless self-acknow-ledgment of his own will and of his own ability and the expression of his independence of mind and character. If we wish to find the real key to his personality we must go to his works, for his exacting and progressive nature, with all its roughness and sharpness, has a. passionately determined heart.