LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 19272, 10 June 1926, Page 4

LONDON TOPICS

THE CHURCHILL BUDGET [From Our Correspondent.] April 2!). Mr Churchill’s now Budget finds very general approval among Unionists. The soundness of its finance is commended, and one suspects that in many others the absence of “ sensations ” has been hailed with considerable relief. The Sinking Fund proposal, assuming that it is adhered to, is calculated to assist the debt conversion operation which is believed to bo in contemplation. Hero and there wo heard concern expressed about the Chancellor’s failure to secure really substantial economies. It was pointed out that ho predicted an increase in expenditure next year and a decrease in revenue. There" is a suspicion, however, that revenue receipts have been deliberately underestimated. In view of the inquiries which Mr Churchill is known to bo making, the failure to impose “ luxury ” taxes on such imports as furs and diamonds has surprised many Unionists. I understand, however, that ho was afraid of injuring the entrepot trade, which, it seems, is much greater than the home trade. TWO FACTS.

Two facts, however, stand forth conspicuously out of the Budget welter. One is that so far all efforts to secure post-war retrenchment have been utterly inadequate. Like the plausible endeavors condemned by Henry V., “They do merely botch and bungle up damnation.” What we need is not a more pruning and shaving, but a wholesale adjustment of Whitehall outlook. Wo must get our Civil Service to think once more, no longer in millions, but in hundred thousands. Another fact that must be recognised is that, but for the coal trouble, past and present, there would have been a substantial relief in income tax. Coal is costing all income taxpayers an extra sixpence on their assessment, and will do so for another year at least. Nobody regrets this more than Mr Churchill, who was very keen to realise the ambition of tax reduction cherished by Lord Randolph. It was only after a brisk fight, waged by Winston with ail his nervous elan, that Cabinet screwed its courage to the sticking point of agreeing to a betting tax. Those whose counsels Air Churchill has heeded in this matter are confident it will abundantly justify itself by financial results.

BERLIN AND LENINGRAD. Though apparently neither Downing street nor the Qua! D’Orsay takes an alarmist view of the Just-concluded Russo-German Treaty, it is obvious that small Middle East States like Czecho-Slovnkin, who secured a somewhat precarious existence lor their young nationalist roots at Versailles, are much afraid of developments. And it is incontrovertible that tho eventual possibilities of a Russo-German Alliance, both from the trade and political side, aro really formidable. Whether Germany industrialised Russia, or Russia coramuuised Germany, the results might bo_ equally disastrous to the Western nations. Berlin's attitude has been ostensibly correct, and I)r Luther’s assurances are that there is no secret understanding behind the formal treaty with Moscow and no hostile move against the League of Nations’ policy. But tho awkward tact remains that, whatever Berlin may say and London or Paris believe, Moscow’s active intrigues against tho League and the Peace Pact have been incessant and undisguised. Germany has an Eastern and a Western Party, and when Mussolini instigated Brazil to stultify the Rapallo Agreement the Easterners at once gained the upper hand. LORD BYNG. Another of our famous generals of the Great War will he more or loss at a loose end when Lord Byng returns home early this summer, a month or two before tho expiration of his official term as Canada’s Governor-General. Who shall succeed him is a question, of some perplexity now being the subject of discussion with tho Canadian Government, but a good man will be required, if the now Governor-General's popularity and success aro to equal those of the cavalryman who commanded the “ Byng Boys.” Tho only serious criticism of which word has reached London concerning the soldierpeer’s tenure related _to Field-mar-shal Earl Haig’s Canadian visit. There was a lot of adverse talk about the Governor-General's absence on a tour that seemed slightly perfunctory when his old G.-in-C. crossed tho Atlantic. Lord Byng’s military renown first reached popular dimensions when his army delivered what was at first a most successful main attack at Cambrai, using tho tanks for tho first timo on a big scale. For the fiasco that ensued on a German strong coun-ter-attack Lord Bjvmg was understood to blamo Allenby tor inadequate support with the cavalry.

GALLIPOLI DAY

On Sunday Whitehall witnessed another impressive pageant, of which the Cenotaph was the solemn point d’appui. In memory of those gallant souls who foil valiantly, though vainly, in the Dardanelles campaign, the anniversary of tho historic landing was celebrated by a parade of units of the immortal 29th Division, together with whole battalions in mufti of tho mon who served in it. Magnificent wreaths were placed round tho pediment of tho Cenotaph, the divisional wreath by Major-general Df E. Cayley, who commanded the Worcesters at tho landing. Tho London crowd greeted with respect the uniforms of the 11.T1.A., tho .Royal Fusiliers, the Lancashire Fusiliers, the South Wales Borderers, the Scottish Borderers, tho Inniskillings, tho Border Regiment, the Hampshires, tho Essex, the Royal Scots, the Monmouths, the Guernseys, tho Worcesters, the Sixteenth Die-Hards, tho Leinsters, the Munstcrs, and tho Newfoundlanders. Many handsome Anzao faces marched with tho mufti battalions. Inspiring addresses wore delivered by Sir A. Hunter-Wevston and Sir Tan Hamilton. The distinguished old Commander-in-Chief wore his Gay Gordon uniform, and his eloquence had a Roman ring. His tribute to'the 29th was the word “ incomparable,”

A FIGHTING PADRE. From the top of a bus in Regent street I caught sight of the Rev. Martin Andrews, evidently up ou a visit from his Cornish parish of Stoko ClimoIrind. Before he was preferred to this living by the Prince of Wales, he was on the staff of Khartoum Cathedral, where, ns on the western front in tho war, the troops found him a very live wire. He has tho distinction of never having been a subaltern, in climbing the ladder from private to field rank, for ho enlisted in Australia, where ho happened to be stationed as a Church of England parson on the outbreak of war, and he was a sergeant-major to the “Aussies” at Gallipoli. Then bo was transferred to France as a chaplain, and he ended as a padre at Corps. [ wonder how he finds English country life after his adventurous career as combatant and non-combatant; be certainly had a wonderful way with our fighting men. LORD READING’S FAMILY. It is wrong to suppose that our latest marquess came of poor parents, as one sometimes sees stated, or that his short experience at sea w'as ever intended to bo his career. The Isaac family were very prosperous city merchants. They lived in one of the big houses in Finsbury square, now ousted by offices, and

Mrs Isaac made her calls every day in a carriage and pair. Lord Heading, now one of the coolest brains in the country, was a wild youth, and it was with a view to steadying him that his father sent him to sea. lie did not r,un away to soa ; —he'ran nway from it. leav-. ing the ship at Bombay, which ho was next to visit as Viceroy. Lord Beading’s brother, Harry, .still controls the family business, and is a man of great wealth. BOOTS. One habit none of the Americans-who, recently visited us. ever succeeded in acquiring during their slay in Lnglamd; th D ,v never could remember to put their boots outside their bedroom doors at■ night to bo cleaned. In the. United States this is one of the things that is not “done.” _ There are plenty of street hoot-cleaning stalls, remarkably efficient and up-to-date, but they are manned bv the dark-liveried descendants of it am. White servants refuse to clean the boots of even the most eminent citizens. It is infra dig. So all smart Americans tarry with them, when they travel, a neat little box reselling a portable typewriter, which contains a complete hoot-polishing outfit. And thev cannot get used to putting their footwear outside their hotel doors. Which recalls the story of the indignant guest, at an Irish hotel in the wild and woolly West, who complained to the proprietor that nobody had taken away his boots, carefully deposited outside his bedroom. “Sure,” was mine host’s gratified rejoinder. “ and your honor’s gold watch would have been just as safe in this hotel.” THE AUSTRALIAN AUTOGRAPHS,

Though Mr Collins dissociates himself from the Press barrage which has ben put down on the Australian Eleven, they certainly produced one of their own for passengers by the Orient liner they sailed in. 1 nave been shown an interesting souvenir of the trip, in the shape of a large photograph of the vessel, signed by all the members of the team. The handwriting is curiously alike—regular, open, and even boyish, with few flourishes. Individually they were the life and soul of the voyage. Thev took part in dock sports, danced hard, and made themselves very agreeable. One ot the chief events was, a tape-cutting contest, with vast prizes, in which gentlemen partnered Indies. This was a very businesslike undertaking propoTly financed. And the fun of it is now' enshrined, for many a failtraveller. in these views with the Austimlian autographs attached. Twc r.OM°LEAT BARBER.

The first ottylallv recognised soft ol of hairdressing is shortly to bo opened at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London, that unique educational institution which teaches anything and every tiling. Taking advantage of the craze for the bob, the shingle, and the Eton crop, many unscrupulous people have advertised bogus schools, and many young men and girls from provincial towns have virtually lost the £2O. £OO, of £SO they paid for their “tuition.” The “Poly” course is really for boys from fourteen to seventeen. They will bo given an intensive training in dressing men’s as well as women's hair. Further, they will lie taught, deportment, how to speak good English, chemistry to help them in preparing hair washes, and some anatomy to enable them to treat the scalp. In the past our host barbers liara boon foreigners, but this course is designed to make the English boy the ideal barber —to give him a more thorough course than is given in any country in the world.

ARMOR FOR SALE. Tho Tower of London has suddenly become very popular with city men at lunch time" Grain merchants, shipbrokers, and lawyers who have mad© their money ami acquired handsome houses just outside Loudon have discovered that there is a sale of six-teenth-century armor proceeding very quietly there. A really imposing display, sufficient to adorn any modern baronial hall, can bo purchased for about £-50, the only drawback being that the man who wants more than one piece must do his shopping accompanied bv his friends or relatives, because only one'piece of armor will ho sold to, any one purchaser. The armor lias been lying at the tower ever since the days of Charles I. It is nearly all pikemen’s and horsemen's equipment, and was probably made about 1(150. A helmet sells for about £3. A pair of .steel gauntlets, guaranteed to be Charles L’s, was sold to an American girl this afternoon for 3os. She seemed to ihink they would “ do father very nicely as his gardening gloves. the nelson touch.

Not, content with the work carried out on the hull and rigging of H.M.S. Victory, which has been as nearlv as possible restored to her original shape and style, the Nautical Research Society has tried to refurnish her on the original lines. By careful quest, assisted by the patriotic spirit of a. good many citizens, Nelson’s cabin has been restored nearly to its original form. A washing stand, easy chair, drinking glasses, and table napkin are among the genuine '‘originals” secured, so that future visitors will really bo able to envisage the conditions under which the greatest of British sailors actually lived’afloat, which he did on one occasion, without once setting foot on shore, for a period of nearly two years. But some of the best Nelson relics are unlikely to leave tho museum of tho United Service Institute in Whitehall, including the dressing table, with the mirror in which Nelson shaved, and his letter to Lady Hamilton, telling how “ tho French would sooner bo damned than lot uh catch them two miles from their own forts.” SEDAN. All military men above the rank of full private arc aghast, Tho British Army's efficiency is’thrcatoned with an Achilles lied. !\nd Hie post-war moral turpitude of the nation receives the menace without a. flicker. Rubber heels for soldiers. Old c.o.s are turning in the best club chairs, and old R.S.M.’s ginger moustaches lose their mihtarv curl. It menus taking the click out of the smartest battalions. And tho tragic irony is that the Guards, the glass of Army fashion and tho mould of military form, are being made the corpus vile of tills monstrous experiment. Ex-service men alone can fully appreciate the enormity of the scandal. . They remember that it was, oven during the thickest days of tho Mops retreat, still a “crime” for a Guardsman to unbutton his tunic; and how, when a Guards’ battalion moved up in the front lino in the muddiest trenches, duly detailed “ numbers ” carried bags of boot and button polish os tenderly as Milks bombs. And now the Guards, who recently showed King George how four privates could correctly fold one greatcoat in twenty minutes, are to be rubber-heeled. Farewell content, farewell the tranquil mind! A Guardsman’s aalut-o now will bo like a parado ground ghost-lacking all sound and fury, it -will signify nothing.