In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 73, 23 September 1939, Page 6

In the Public Eye

"Hold fast, I have confidence in you/ The name of Marshal Petain. mentioned in the news recently, brings memories of the heroic French defence of Verdun, epic of French doggedness and sacrifice, that did much to accelerate the 1916 attrition of the German army. According to a London message it is reported in Paris diplomatic circles that M. DsZadier has invited M. Herriot to become Foreign Minister, and that M. Herriot has accepted on condition that Marshal Petain, 83-years-old veteran of the Great War, is included in the War Cabinet of France. Marshal Henri Petain, who was born in 1856, was ir> command of a brigade when the last great war began, but was soon appointed to the command of the 33rd Corps. When the terrific German attack on Verdun began he was selected by J off re to take command of the operations in which it has been stated, he "worked wonders with organisation" and in maintaining the wonderful spirit of the troops. "Tenez ferme. J'ai confiance en vous" (Hold fast, I have confidence in you.), was one of his first messages on taking this command, and he has been credited with a "wonderful understanding of the Poilu in all his moods," and described as a man who always gave his real opinion, -completely without respect of persons. Later in 1916 he was given command of the French armies of the centre. In 1917 he became Commander-in-Chief of the French forces on the Western Front, and when Foch became Generalissimo in 1918, Petain was promoted to the rank of Marshal of France. The days of European peace were not altogether days of peace for Marshal Petain, for in 1925 he was sent to northern Africa to take charge of operations against the revolting Riffs. Back in France he resumec 3 his post as Inspector-General of the French Army, and in 1931 he was appointed Inspector-General of Aerial Defence on land. In this administration he was associated with the beginning of bomb shelters in Paris and other cities, and the instruction of civilian populations with regard to the risks of aircraft attack to be expected in warfare of the future. Entering politics in 1934, he was Minister of War in the Doumergue Ministry, and in this capacity he paid a visit to London. Mr. R. H. Cross. The Ministry of Economic Warfare, headed by Mr. Ronald Hibbert Cross, is now in full operation. The Ministry's aim, a cable message recently stated, is to disorganise the economy of theenemy and thus prevent him from effectively maintaining the war. Mr. Cross, whose functions correspond broadly to the Ministry of Blockade of 1914-18, has been Unionist M.P. for Rosendale, Lancashire, since 1931. In his forty-third year, Mr. Cross has been Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade) since last year. During the World' War he served with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry and the Royal Flying Corps. A merchant banker, he was Government Whip from 1935 to 1937. Food, armaments, and oil are the lifeblood of a fighting force, as the history of the blockade amply proves. It was the British blockade of French and Spanish ports, between 1803 and 1814, that foiled Napoleon's plan to invade England. In the blockade of 1914-18 British and French cruiser squadrons patrolled the Channel, North Sea, and Straits of Otra.nto. In time Britain found that, in spite of all efforts, it was obvious supplies were pouring into Germany through Scandinavia, Holland, and (at first) Italy. Various committees and departments were formed in London to deal with different sections of the economic blockade, and these were amalgamated into a Ministry under Lord Robert Cecil early in 1916. It had taken Britain two years to realise that "business as usual" was incompatible with a "nation in arms." By the winter of 1916, Germany was reduced to terrible distress, and it was only the conquest of Rumania —whose oil wells would be destroyed by the defenders in such an event today—and the occupation of the Ukraine which saved a breakdown. The complete loss of artificial fertilisers at a very early period was a severe blow, as without these the soil could not produce its j normal harvest, much less replace the j lack of sea-borne supplies. The loss of oils and fats was soon badly felt. Not only did the population suffer on account of it, but the lack of lubricants lowered the transport capacity of the railways. Meat imported from the adjacent neutrals in 1915-16 did not fill the deficit caused by the British agreement with the American Meat Packers' Association, while the cattle killed- at home could not be replaced owing to the lack of fodder. In the autumn of 1918 Germany was broken both in body and spirit, and when the Armistice came Vienna was in little better plight than that of Paris during the starvation period of the siege of 1871. Sir John Sluickburgh. Sir John Shuckburgh's recent appointment as Governor of Nigeria has been received with mixed feelings at Cambridge, where he lives. For Sir John, who was at Eton and King's, will be missed in the Senior Combination ißoom of the senior foundation. His I career has hitherto lain in Whitehall, where he has spent thirty-nine years. He was at the India Office for the first twenty-one of these. Then he was "annexed" by the Colonial Office, which was looking for someone of exceptional ability as Assistant Undersecretary of State. He has been concerned since with two of the thorny problems besetting the Department—lrak and Palestine. It was he who laid with King Feisul the foundations of the excellent relations which now exist between Irak and Britain. Palestine has proved less I amenable to his powers of finding thn middle way. which his India Office exI perience sharpened. j Sir John Shuckburgh, who is 62, is i tall, loosely knit, and possesses a dignified ease of manrier and conversation which marks the scholar. So do |.his clothes —one of the subjects which ! clearly have never occupied his attention.

Lord Camrose, who has been appointed principal assistant to the Minister of Information in Britain, is a son of the late Alderman J. M. Berry, of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, and is 59 years old. In 1901 he founded "The Advertising World," and his connection with the British Press has grown large. He became editor-in-chief of the "Sunday Times" in 1915, and under him the newspaper made great headway, while later he took over the "Daily Telegraph" which was then languishing, and brightened up the newspaper so greatly that two years ago it had reached the point where it purchased the famous "Morning Post," its rival, and the oldest morning daily in England. Later, Lord Camrose became chairman of Allied Newspapers, of "Financial Times" Ltd. and of Allied Northern Newspapers, but sold his holdings in Allied Newspapers after he acquired the "Morning Post." He was knighted in 1921 and raised to the peerage in 1928. Miss Marjorie Foster. It seems that the War Office has turned down Miss Marjorie Foster's claim to have won the 1939 King's Medal at Bisley for the best shot in the Territorial Army, says the "Manchester Guardian." The War Office being what the War Office is (years ago the great Lord Salisbury was indicating mildly that he thought it was generally taken for granted that it had long since reached the demented stage), no surprise need be felt; but the plain fact is that if Miss Foster (who won the King's Prize at Bisicy nine years ago) is not this year's King's Medallist for the Territorial Army then the Women's Transport Section of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (in which she is an assistant company leader) is evidently not part of the Territorial Army—and that in spite of any other views on that point which may be held on any other occasions by thoroughly inconsistent brass-hats and bigwigs at the duly demented W.O. There is only one superb gesture left for Mr. Chamberlain (who often seems happier when he is addressing the females of his party) to achieve; let him remove Mr. Hore-Belisha to some equally exalted but less military sphere and make Miss Marjorie Foster (since she cannot be King's Medallist) his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for War. Her prowess at shooting shows that she must be more of a born warrior than Mr. Hore-Belisha or any other of the W:O. bigwigs; cry "Palmam quae meruit ferat!" and bung •her right up to the very top of the military tree. Miss Foster will then have got some sort of consolation prize. Mr. Chamberlain will at last have achieved a really spectacular change in the Cabinet. And the War Office, being, ex hypothesi, demented, will continue to function exactly as before. Mr. F. E. Clark. Francis Edward Clark, a 55-year-old seaman, anchored in Newlyn Harbour, Cornwall, recently after crossing the Atlantic single-handed in his seven-ton cutter-rigged yacht Girl Kathleen. It took him a month and three days to do the voyage. Clark, who is a native of Portsmouth, left England in ' 1937. He bought his small yacht in West Cornwall and sailed for Charleston, North Carolina. Bad weather threw him out of his course, and he was compelled to put into Savannah, Georgia. "I had difficulty in proving my bona fides," he said. "The authorities held the view that my papers were not in order. This led to court proceedings, there being a suspicion that I might possibly be a pirate. "After intervention by many friends in America^ the Court reduced the fine and finally remitted it. This entailed considerable cost and reduced my funds. '"Subsequently I sailed for New York. When I decided to sail for England my funds were so low that I was compelled to sell my chronometer to buy stores of food, and this left me with only a sextant and compass with which to cross the Atlantic." 'Mr. Clark said that he got his position by dead reckoning. To get some sleep he lashed the tiller, and hoped for the best. Rev. Richard Pyke. * The new president of the British Methodist Conference, the Rev. Richard Pyke, was born in 1873 at Sampford Courtenay, a Devonshire village, near to Okehampton. He received his education at Shebbear College, where he revealed qualities on which expectations not since disappointed' were based. At the early age of seventeen he began to preach, and in 1894 he was accepted as a candidate for the ministry of the Bible Christian Church, one of the smaller branches of Methodism which was especially strong and ! influential in Devon and Cornwall. With the exception of ten years (1903-13) at Forest Hill, London, his ministry has been mainly in <lhe West j of England, where he has held pastorates at Barnstaple, Bideford, Bristol, | and Plymouth. Both in the Bible j j Christian Church and in the United Methodist Free Church, with which it j was united in 1907, Mr. Pyke attained i to high office, and in the latter Church j jhe was more than once the chairman J jof important districts, and ultimately j ! became its president in 1927. With • I the achievement of Methodist union I seven years ago he was appointed j chairman of the Plymouth district and j a year later elected a representative to j the last Oecumenical Conference at j Atlanta (Georgia), in the United States. Six years ago he removed from Ply- j mouth to Duke Street Church, Southport, the scene of the ministries of Silas Hocking, the novelist, and of the j Rev. David Brooke, one of the leading j advocates of Methodist union. From I 1915 to 1022 he was governor of Sheb-! bear College, where he left his mark upon the fabric of his old school, and he is still the chairman of its governing body and also of that of Edgehill College. The new president is a frequent contributor to the religious Press. Wide reading, felicity of phrasing, a quiet i sense of humour, and passionate con- j viction give distinction and point to his literary work. He is the author of several books, including "The Golden Chain—the Story of the Bible Christian Church," "The Protestant Faith and i Challenge.", and "John Wesley Came .This Way," which appeared last yeari It the time of the Wesley Bicentenary.