In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1938, Page 21

In the Public Eye

The appointment of General Gamelin as Chief of the French General Staff of National Defence is a move of extreme significance. It may be attributed to the gravity of the world situation and the need of assuring unity of command without waiting for a war to break out. General Gamelin now becomes Chief of ' the Combined Stall and de facto Generalissimo of the armed forces in time of war. He thus holds a position exactly similar to that of Marshal Badoglio in Italy and only differing from that formerly held by Field-Marshal yon Blomberg in thai the latter was German Minister of Defence as well. In view of the history of the Republic, French politicians have always feared to give too much power to a soldier. The further the Government moved to the Left the more they determined that the civil power must be supreme. Only the sense of a great emergency could have induced the present Government to nominate General Gamelin to this post. The creation of a separate air force has led in France, as in other countries, to the Army and Air Force forming entirely different conceptions as to their respective roles in any future campaign. The presence of a Generalissimo ends this uncertainty. It will be his duty to decide how the air force is to be used. General Gamelin, who was born in 1872, is the most distinguished soldier in France. He served his apprenticeship with Marshal Joffre at the Battle of the Marne, and he has had a fine post-war record in Syria and in Morocco. He is much trusted by the French Army. The appointment that has been created is held to be worth many divisions as a reinforcement to the armed forces of France. M. Boris Shumiatsky. Boris Shumiatsky, supreme chief of the Soviet film industry, who is well known in Britain and America, has been dismissed. He has been charged with building himself a luxurious country house,.costing a quarter of a million roubles, equivalent to a year's average wages of more than 900 Soviet workers, wasting fabulous sums on similar luxuries for his friends, and. worst of all, falling far behind in the output plan for films. :The last straw was his version of Stevenson's "Treasure Island," in which a disastrously clumsy attempt was made to please the popular taste and at the same time to satisfy the "Party line." Shumiatsky turned Stevenson's boy hero, Jim Hawkins, into "cabin girl." 'Jenny Hawkins, who drinks rum by the beaker-full with the pirates, dances "most losely," and finally has an affair with Dr. Livesey. The pirates are, moreover, featured as living a much too free and happy life, drinking deep, singing loud, throwing dice, and at the same time strictly applying their own "harsh laws," which include the "issuing of warrants" for each other's liquidation most cold-heartedly." "What a horrible example for Soviet children, queuing up for this film," exclaims the official organ, "Soviet Art," from which these charges are quoted. Shumiatsky's position was worsened by the way in which he dragged into this "bourgeois" story the Irish revolution of 1798. For the opening, there is the caption, "Revolution storms over Ireland," and then the film launches a treasure hunt to find the funds of the Irish rebels—as if the Irish revolutionaries could possibly associate with such "criminal elements." "Why didn't Shumiatsky read Marx's letter to Engels on December 10, 1869, explaining the Irish movement as really a class war against Pitt's infamous policy?" asks "Soviet Art." Mr. Orville Wright. Orville Wright was sure of success on December 17, 1907, when he and his brother, Wilbur, made their niemorable air flight. That certainty,' that assurance, that confidence, was almost the first thing he mentioned when he stepped off a Pennsylvania Railroad train recently when the aviation world gave him homage on- the thirty-fourth anniversary of his conquest of the air, and gave one of his rare interviews. It was the one thing to which he returned again and again in the few sentences which he spoke: Theire had been no y doubts, no fears, no last-minute provisions for the future "just in case." "It was a clay pretty much like this one." said Mr. Wright, as he eyed the overcast skies, the spurts of rain, the foggincss and dampness of the air. "Occasionally the sun broke through, but very occasionally, most of the time it was dark and rainy." Asked why they had not waited for more favourable weather, Mr. Wright said. "Why, you see it was getting so near Christmas. If we were going to succeed before Christmas it pretty much had to be that day."

There had been five hours on the train between Washington and New York city during which Mr. Wright might have recalled many of the details 'of that day. Had he done so? Well, no. he hadn't, he confessed with a deprecating little smile. Perhaps he should have done so, that smile said, but after all. he hadn't.

"I remembered the day. of course," he ventured. "But 1 don't recall exactly what happened We didn't waste any time. I know that After the first flight we did have to make a few repairs, but we did four flights in one hour and 23 minutes, so that you may know that we did not do much standing around or talking."

Mr. Wright wished he could say more; but added. "I. am not much good at interviews." ' -

But he had been fairjy satisfactory as a subject for an interview. He had been simple, he had been forthright, and he had been kindly. And after all the interview was something of an excitement, for Mr Wright almost never talks for publication.

AH through the morning the Press had been trying to reach him, without success But a fortunate lead brought one correspondent to the Pennsylvania Station to meet the incoming train, on which he had been located. Would he break his custom and talk? He would: and a moment later, a tall, spare, grey-haired, blue-eyed, and Smiling man W D° = >in!>-incr \-ir, n r\n qn[ ] VonversinP,

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Field has retired from the active list of the Navy, and the King, who has the sole right of nominating officers to this rank, has honoured Lord Cork and Orrery. Lord Cork will retain office as Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth. Vice-Admiral Sir William James, who is Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, is promoted to Admiral and remains on the active list, but Rear Admiral R. C. Davenport is retired on promotion to Vice-Admiral, and in that vacancy Rear Admiral T. H. Binny is promoted and becomes Vice-Admiral in Command of the First Battle Squadron.

Sir Fredrick Field was. captain of the King George V at the Battle of Jutland, and only two men who were commanding officers in capital ships at the battle are now left on the active list—Lord Chatfleld and Sir Dudley Pound. Admiral Field was First Sea Lord at the time of .the mutiny at Invergordon in 1931, and although he was on the sick list returned to work to cope with the situation. Lord Cork is still better remembered as Sir William Boyle and more familiarly as "Ginger Boyle.",' When he became Lord Cork the lower deck aptly changed the nickname to "Ginger Pop." Admiral James, in addition to a full career at sea, has been in office at the Admiralty on several occasions and was assistant to the famous Secret Service chief Admiral Hall in the latter part of the war in the Intelligence Division. He has another claim to fame which he does not appreciate. It is rather a handicap for any man to have figured all over the world on the hoardings in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit blowing bubbles. Sir John Millais, who painted that familiar • picture, was the Admiral's grandfather. Sir Harry Sheehan. The Australian Government has decided to appoint Sir Harry Sheehan, formerly Secretary to the Department of the Treasury, to the position of Governor of the Commonwealth Bank, in succession to Sir Ernest Riddle, who retires on February 28. "Sir Harry Sheehan's career in the Commonwealth Public Service has been outstanding, and he has occupied many important positions with conspicuous ability since his first appointment to the Comomriwealth Treasury in 1903," said Mr. Lyons in making the announcement. "In 1926 he was appointed Assistant Secretary, and in 1932 Secretary to the Treasury. During 1933 his knowledge of financial affairs was still further widened by his visit to England as financial adviser to the Australian delegates at the World Monetary and Economic Conference. In that year also he \v.ns the Australian delegate to' the League of Nations. Since 1932 Sir Harry Sheehan has been a member of the National Debt Commission, and a director of the Commonwealth Bank. His outstanding services to the Commonwealth were recognised by the King when he was knighted in February. 1937 "The sound knowledge of financial matters acquired by Sir Harry Sheehan, both in Australia and abroad,," continued the Prime Minister, "has been of great assistance to the Government in the past, and every confidence is'felt that his more direct association with the bank will be of benefit to that institution and to the people of Australia generally." Mr. Lyons added'that Mr. S. G. McFaiiane, at present official secretary in London, will return immediately to Australia. Mr. McFarlane entered the Commonwealth Public Service hi 1903, and during the intervening years has filled with distinction many responsible posts, mainly in connection with financial administration. He was at various times accountant in the Post-master-General's Department in West Australia, Queensland, and Victoria, and during the war period he was loaned to the Defence Department as Chief Inspector of Finance. Mr. McFarlane was Assistant Secretary to the Treasury from 1926 to 1935, and also secretary to the Australian Loan Council and the National Debt Commission. He was a director of the Commonwealth Oil Refinery Co. from 1931 to the time of his transfer to London in 1935. During the period he has been in London Mr. McFarlane has been actively associated with the High Commissioner (Mr. Stanley Bruce) in financial matters affecting the Commonwealth, and particularly in relation to loan conversions. Mr. James \\. Gerard. One of the most notable official guests at the Coronation was Mr. James W. Gerard, who headed the United States delegation. Now that he has returned to America, Mr. Gerard has taken up a post for which he is exceptionally well qualified He has become adviser to. the United States Tourist Bureau, which opened in New York early last year. The Bureau operates under the auspices of the Department of the Interior and is intended to stimulate interest abroad in America's scenic, and recreational attractions.

Mr. Gerard's new duties are officially described as "indefinable." But his experience as a traveller abroad and his knowledge of European psychology should make his advice invaluable.

As U.S. Ambassador in Berlin during the first years of the war, when he was in charge of British interests in Germany. Mr. Gerard earned the gratitude of several countries besides his own. His "shirt-sleeve diplomacy," as it was unkindly described by his critics, may not have been in the then accepted Ambassadorial tradition. But no one could deny that it was effective. ■

It is not generally realised that, although he wilJ rank as one of America's greatest Ambassadors, this was his only diplomatic post. Since he left Columbia University forty-six years ago, Mr. Gerard ■ has been a lawyer for forty-two years and a diplo*nt for only four.