LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 20167, 6 May 1929, Page 7

LONDON TOPICS

GENERAL ELECTION PORTENTS [From Our Cobuesvoxdext,] March 28. Some of_ Mr Baldwin’s supporters have the wind up about the impending general flection. The Frinio Minister’s remarkable reference to croakers and cold feet last week was partly directed to this quarter, but perhaps mainly to those London journals, reputedly Conservative, who seem persistently busy queering the Conservative pitch. Tho latter symptom does not count for much with experienced election workers, because public opinion has often shown its supreme disregard for Fleet Street, but it does point to a revulsion within the Conservative ranks. The Government has disappointed the two groups who stand for national economy and protection. But by-election results may be worse than fallacious. Not only do they exclude the new register with its enigma, woman’s vote, but these setbacks may scare apathetic Conservatives into action when tho real tug-of-war arrives. That is, at any rate, tho fervent hope at the Conservative headquarters. REQUIEM MASS FOR FOCH, London’s requiem Mass for Marshal Foch, with its vast congregation and illustrious crowd of brilliant uniforms, was the most impressive and memorable service yet held in Westminster Cathedral. Though tho latter lacks the venerable antiquity of Westminster Abbey, it has, owing to its huge spaciousness and absence of congested mediocre statuary, a far more august solemnity, and formed a perfect setting for this magnificent service. The Prince of Wales and the Prime Minister, both in uniform, were seated near the catafalque, and behind them grouped past and present Cabinet Ministers, with all the most famous of our war commanders. The musical service was superb, and the cardinal archbishop presided with great dignity. At the end trumpeters of the Info Guards sounded the ‘ Last Post ’ of France in throbbing, braze:- 1 challenge to the echoes of eternity. It would have been a fitting and splendid gesture if Foch had been sepulchred under the Arch of Triumph and France let her illustrious generalissimo and her Unknown Warrior ride out to eternity side, by side November 11, 1918, for a reason not many people realise, was Foch’s supreme moment. Two days later he had planned to launch another and final attack between Metz and Strasbourg which must Lave crumpled up the demoralised German armies and cut their vital communications. It would have been the most stupendous coup in military history. But Foch was a great man as well as an incomparable soldier. So long as the drastic armistice terms achieved his every aim he scorned the glitter of a Napoleonic triumph. How many of the world’s illustrious captains would have shown equal strength of mind? CHANGING SERVICES. There is one phase of Prince George’s Foreign Office job that lias not boon mentioned in tho newspapers, hut is nevertheless keenly discussed in the chibs. For a member of tho iloyal Family to enter the Civil Service is quite a new thing in this country, and while it has given groat satisfaction to the resident garrison of Whitehall, and notably to the smart young dandies of the Foreign Office, it is giving Navy, Army, and Air Force people furiously to think. It may possibly still further accentuate the growing post-war difficulty in securin';; candidates for commissioned rank in those fighting services; because, though it is quite true other members of the. Iloyal Family maintain the traditional and historic association with, then;, Prnce George’s F.O. appointment looks lake an omen. It is a recognition that the Geneva Cross now overshadows file star of Mars, and that the future perhaps now lies with the Civil Service. AFFAIRS IN SPAIN. Though the Spanish Dictator appears once more to have outridden the storm, I hear that affairs in Spain are steadily going from bad to worse. Spanish psychology may be lethargic, but it is also volcanic, and political unrest is simply seething throughout the peninsula, but especially in those quarters notoriously given to extreme movements. How long General Primo Do THvera can hold down tho forces now making for upheaval is a matter even Spanish opinion is not agreed about, but there is general agreement that, an explosion must come sooner or later. Another anxious problem is how tho latter, when it docs arrive, may affect the Throne. King Alfonso is popular to a degree with the majority of his subjects, but the Dictatorship lias somewhat compromised that allegiance, and it must need all His Majesty’s great pluck to face the future.

LOOKING FORWARD. Anyone interested in the most signllicant of all modern scientific revolutions will find fascinating entertainment in ‘ Twenty-five Years of Flying.’ The author, Mr Harry Harper, facile princeps among writers on the air, combines practical knowledge and logical imagination to a degree that makes him a modern Jules Verne. Ho recalls early talks with the Wright brothers, watching Bleriot take off on the first Channel flight, chasing White _ and I’aulhain in a car on their thrilling race from London to Manchester. How strange these experiences sound today. But what of twenty-five years hence { Mr Harper says we may, with high-altitude flying at 1,000 miles per hour, find ourselves in two places at once. With the Atlantic flight reduced to five hours, one might leave London at noon to reach New York at precisely the same hour. More impressive still, Mr Harpet, envisaging cheap aviatioi for all sees frontiers obliterated. and a golden age dawning with one universal air language. TELEPHONE MAKES MONEY. I spent half an hour to-day in the office of a firm of London grain brokers and witnessed money being made by telephone. On a large blackboard on the wall were chalked up the prices of wheat in all the principal markets in Europe—in Rotterdam, Hamburg, Brussels, Liverpool, Pans—and from time to time a small boy corrected these prices as news came by telephone. The elderly partner to whom I wr talking had three telephone instruments befon him While l iras there a call came through from his clerk on the Baltic, reporting the London price, and the partne by a glance at the board could see that this was Is 6d a quarter below the Rotterdam price. He promptli rang up Rotterdam, Mas connected in 20min, and had sold 1,000 tons on that market. He then sent a message across to the Baltic instructing the clerk to buy 1.000 tons there. In this way, while sitting talking to me, over £350 clear profit was made..

LONDON’S PORT HANDICAP. The lliver Thames is becoming so crowded with shipping that there are not sufficient buoys to accommodate all the vessels that want to unload small cargoes. Ships with anything up to 1,000 tons of cargo to discharge used to be able to find a buoy at which to tie up, but now they find themselves compelled to go into a berth at the docks, as all the buoys are occupied. This means a great deal more expense. Only light dues have to be paid lor using a buoy, but a ship of 10,000 tons would have to pay £6OO to enter the docks. In consequence of these heavy charges and the lack ol buoys, merchants are complaining bitterly. But the Port of London Authority is in a dilemma, its first duty is to keep the river navigable, and lor this reason no moro buoys can be allowed. Then barges and vessels containing oils are not allowed near the docks, so they are given preference at tho buoys. It does, however, seem unfair that a merchant vessel sometimes has to pay nearly £1 a ton to unload a small cargo. PROFESSOR MACCUNN.

The late Professor John MacCunn, who has died at his Loch Lomond home at the age of cighty-two, was one of a very brilliant group at Liverpool University in its earlier days. He was a charming gentleman as well as a fine scholar, and was also a most witty speaker. Longer ago than 1 carc_ to count up, he distributed the prizes at my school. 1 still remember a story 'he told about young Disraeli, in the days when the future Conservative Premier was applicant for some job. Candidates were interviewed by a board of directors whoso great point was family connections. When ono old fogey asked Dizzy, “ Pray, sir. on what do you stand Dizzy replied, “Oh, my 'head, sir!” To which anecdote Professor MacCunn added; “Believe me. ladies and gentlemen, if your boys begin by standing on their heads they will end by eventually falling on their feet.” HANDCUFFING THE LAW. Notwithstanding Ibe prompt .approval of most newspapers, it is doubtful whether the Police Commission's recommendations will ever receive full adoption. The one really sensible and practical suggestion, is that relating to artificial offence-.-., whether, as in the case of betting, the existing law conflicts with public habit. Police experts agree that the proposed method of cautioning persons ".horn it is desired to question would simply haudculi' justice. Not one oi tlie last halldozen big murder casus would ever have been solved if the police had to follow tin’s procedure strictly. It is one tiling to prohibit “third degree” methods, but quite another to place impossible obstacles in the way of sec u r i n g i n form a t km. CARS ON HEAVY OILS. Manufacturers and users of commercial vehicles alike arc alive to the possibilities of the. heavy oil engined lorry on account of the economy that would follow a substitution of heavy oil for petrol as fuel. The price of suitable oils varies from 4d to fijd a gallon, and on long hauls a lorry so engined should do between thirty and forty miles to the gallon. The great difficulty so far has been in producing an efficient engine that is not too heavy in itself, bnfc recent experimental work on the Continent lias shown that this trouble can be overcome. Now a wellknown British (inn is to produce a heavy oil engine for commercial use. BUSINESS AND SPORT. It would never have occurred to me that there was much, if any, connection between sport and commerce. But a city expert tells me the recent cricket tests in Australia have done us an appreciable amount of service. Reports from agents abroad all over the world show that our M.C.C. team’s fine performances have stimulated British business orders. • The explanation Js that the M.C.G. victories have .killed a deadly foreign impression that England was played out, and had lost all her athletic virility of old in the war. T do not know .how our Rugger position will affect markets, if .Franco whacks us in Paris and we qualify for the wooden spoon, but it is apparently most important that the picked athletic team of ’varsity blues about to tom- America, Australasia, and South Africa should make a good show. DOUBLE SACKCLOTH. Even the most arrogant Oxonians have now given up talking about “ a place called Cambridge.” That the latter would win the centenary boat race, as forecast in this column weeks ago, was obvious to all except those amusingly futile rowing experts who pontificiate in the Loudon newspapers. It was a palpable walk-over for the stronger and better crew, and every Putney boatman had his money safely on the light blues long ago. But Oxford really hoped to win the sports'. Again these fond expectations were cruelly dashed. You will discover au astonishing percentage of Cambridge youths whose fathers were Oxford blues, and who think the Cam now gives the better athletic opportunity to native prowess. SHADE OF BEAU BRUMMEL. In the smoke room of a well-known St. James’s club to-day, I heard a retired colonel of the fiercest Indianliver genre let himself ;ro in picturesque Armycsque. His infuriating topic was modern dress habits, and the immediate occasion the official ukase that soft hats, provided at present that

they arc black, may he worn with dinner jackets. My military friend is a most loyal subject, and greatly admires tho Royal Family, but even the Prince of Wales, apropos his evening dress pull-over, did not entirely escape tho tirade of wrath. I did my best to instil a philosophical point of view, and talked of the evanescent nature of all human fashions. But my good efforts were completely frustrated by a mischievous third party, who informed the speechless colonel that, at a West End theatre only the night before, - he saw a rich American, who combined evening dross with a black cap and white spats!