RISING POLITICIAN

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 110, 5 November 1937, Page 18

RISING POLITICIAN

MR. DUNCAN SANDYS

DECIDED VIEWS

AND STRONG PERSONALITY

(From-"The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, October 13.

"The young member for Norwood, ! Mr. Duncan Sandys, was the most pro- j minent London M.P. at the Cbnserva- I tive Conference at Scarborough. He is possessed of a personality .which is at J once determined and quiet, and woe , betide the Minister who does not , satisfy his curiosity at question time." ( This was the compliment paid byj ] "Qbservator" in the "Sunday Obser- , ver," to the grandson of the late Mr. ] Duncan Cameron, of Springfield, Can- ( terbury. It is one of the many kindly ] things said of this young politician of , whom more is certain to be heard in ] the future. For, at 29, Mr. Duncan , Sandys. (pronounced Sands) is one of , the outstanding younger members of , the House of Commons. He has been 1 attached to the Foreign Office ! and ] Diplomatic Service, he has travelled widely in Siberia and Russia; he has impelled attention to his views, and he has made a successful and happy mar-j-iage with the daughter of one of England's best-known politicians of today, Mr. Winston Churchill. Furthermore, lie has shown that he possesses the qualities that make for success: energy, enterprise, and courage. Everyone predicts a rosy future for him. Mr. Sandys is a tall, young man, over six feet, well proportioned, and with fiery red hair. His eyes are of that rather indefinable shade often termed green. He has a humorous, sensitive mouth, and a pleasant habit t of laughing with his eyes as well as 1 his lips. He has every reason to look < with kindly eyes upon the world, for < he has received an excellent start m m * life. Not the least of his good fortune, New Zealanders will say, is that his 1 mother comes from that Dominion. She l was formerly Miss Mildred Helen j Cameron. \ Duncan Sandys,- however, has never ] been to New Zealand, although he 1 would like very much to do so. He 1 was educated at Eton ancf Oxford, and t he made the most of his opportunities, t After winning an honours degree in - history, he passed a competitive ex- j amination and entered the Foreign Office and Diplomatic Service in 1930, < and for a period until 1933 he was at- « tached to the British Embassy at Ber- < lin In 1932 he was attached to the l British delegation at the Reparations t Conference at Lausanne, and in the \ iollowing year he was present at the ] World Economic Conference in Lon- < Jon in the same capacity. s AN IMPORTANT YEAR. j The year 1933 was an important one £ m his life. He made the decision— t not an easy one—to throw up a career. ( ,in the Diplomatic Service and the prospect of a life full of interest and everincreasing responsibility and prestige. He entered politics. As a career, politics are an altogether different propose ' tion from the diplomatic service. It was some time before he w*as nommat- i cd as a candidate, although he made i several applications. It was this ex- ( u°riencc which caused him to be i twitted by his future brother-in-law, < Mr. Randolph Churchill, a youth whose i political views are often tinged with a < bias that is not altogether quaint. < Young Mr. Churchill, aided by his : sister Diana, was assisting Mr. Sandys 1 opponent at the Norwood by-election, i It was then that Mr. Sandys was.de- i scrbed by Mr. Churchill, in the hear- i Ing of his future wife, as a "political E'entipede with a foot in every camp, i who would swallow anything so long as he does not blot his copybook with Central Office" (the Conservatives headquarters). Some seven months later Mr. Churchill found that the 'political centipede" was a member of the family, and, a few months' after ihat he was glad to have his assistance at the West Toxteth by-election at k'hich he himself was standing. And he found too, that Mr. Sandys was' m--lined to "blot his copy book," for his independence and frank criticism ot the National Government has caused ■"entral Office and the Front Bench to Irown upon the tall,, red-haired young man upon several occasions. So it was that, after a wait of about two years, Mr. Sandys won a seat in Parliament. His maiden speech was paid a compliment by his future father-si-law Mr. Winston Churchill, who it that time had probably followed his .daughters' interest with a discerning »ye. Mr. Churchill replied to Mr. Sandys's speech. And that is quite an unusual experience for a new member. The two men have a great deal in common, and Mr. Sandys has undoubtedly learned something from the experience Df his father-in-law. He has acquired. no doubt, unconsciously, .the mannerIsms of Mr. Churchill, When speaking in the House or on the public platform, he frequently puts his thumb in the armhole of his waistcoat, strokes his hand back over his head, and stands With his legs wide apart—all mannerIsms of the famous Winston, so that it has been said of young Mr. Sandys "he'has married the Churchill manner is well as the Churchill menage.' DECIDED VIEWS. So much for his career. What of his Mr Sandys is a man of decided views tnd opinions, as Cabinet Ministers have discovered. At the moment, he Is chiefly concerned to see that Biiiain gives up none of the mandated territories under her control. It was his motion which, at the annual conference of the British Conservative Association, in October, 1935, gave Hitler i reply to his demand for colonies. Mr. Sandys asked for no chtnge in policy and no new commitments. His motion was carried. ; . One oC his points is that Britain must remember the importance of her naval strength to the Empire. In the living up of a territory like Tanganyika with its' great landlocked harbour of Dar-es-Salaam. to a strong military power like Germany, Mr. Sandys sees a weakening in the chain of Empire naval bases. On every occasion upon which this subject is raised he can-be relied upon to expound his beliefs, whether in the House, on the platform, or in the IPrcss* He believes that the constant change In international relations and the element of extreme uncertainty which has disturbed every country's sense of international values and upset all previous calculations, makes it impossible for -Great Britain to have any hard and fast foreign policy. He agrees that the ideal foreign policy is -one of collective security. But for this, he says, the League must enjoy the full support of the Great Powers, and he considers therefore that, in considering the reform of the League, greater attention should be devoted to enlarging its composition than to altering its constituBritish isolation from European afifairs is seen by Mr. Sandys to be a distinct possibility. If. he says, Europe is divided into two hostile camps mi which Communism opposes Fascism, it ■would clearly not be possible' for any British Government to justify the ■hedding of British blood to secure the -Victory of either bloc." He believes that Britain should support any and every promising effort directed towards the Strengthening of international law. and §j»at she should be strong-armed, 'I am

an Imperialist first and last" he said J on one occasion. "Our policy must be ohe of aloofness from European entanglements." A FEARLESS CRITIC. Mr. Sandys does not agree altogether with the policy of the Conservatives or of the National Government. What is more, he has not been afraid to say so. In one criticism in 1935. he said that unless its policy were altered it would die of creeping paralysis, and he regretted that leadership was virtually being transferred from the Government to the House of Commons. The three ideals which he keeps in mind are Empire unity, social progress, and democratic 'freedom. He believes that these are the ideals that appeal to the youth of the nation. ■ In considering the question of Empire unity, he has naturally thought of immigration, in which there is much interest in England today. And, also, naturally, he has thought of immigration in respect to New Zealand. He believes that it is next to useless to send English people to farm in New Zealand when they have been trained to industrial work in England.. Rather. he« considers that industrial workers should be sent to New Zealand to help develop industries there. The, development of these industries, he considers, will provide the increase in pi*>ulation which New Zealand can well maintain, and provide another market for her agricultural produce.