LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 21640, 8 February 1934, Page 12

LONDON TOPICS

SAME OLD GERMANY [From Oob Correspondent.] December 28. Having evaded her disarmament pledges. Germany has now repudiated her debt obligations. The latter, be it observed, are post-war commitments, not war debts. Foreigners, chiefly British and American, who invested in German bonds are not only to have their interest further cut down, but in this respect will be refused the preferential treatment reserved for other foreign investors who during the war were notoriously pro-German. It is amusing to note what fierce indignation this procedure causes now in the bosoms of those in this country who, after the armistice, cold-shouldered our French Allies, but hastened to kill the fatted calf for the German prodigal. Since Germany “went Hitler,” of course, the British Labour Party, which wept on Germany’s shoulder in 1918, has quite changed its tune. But the tune in Germany is still Deutschland liber Alles. WEYGAND. Tile French Minister for War, M. Daladier, is up against a stiff proposition. General Weygand, Chief of Staff and formerly Foch’s able lieutenant, threatens resignation. He and his staff want a reversion to the two-year conscript system to tide over the period, two years hence, when France r s war casualties will affect the available military youth. This proposal M. Daladier opposes, partly no doubt for urgent reasons of general policy, but Weygand’s name cuts a lot of ice in France. He is the most distinguished army brains they have, and the part he played in enabling Poland to defeat the Soviet’s Warsaw attack is not forgotten. Whether the French military experts are only making an excuse of .the conscript shortage may be a moot point. Possibly, like most Brass Hats, they much prefer a two-year to a oneyear soldier. Especially in view of Germany’s new long-service standing army. MR LANSBURY’S UNDERSTUDY. Like Malvolio in the Shakespearean comedy, Major Attlee had greatness thrust" upon him. The accident to Mr George Lansbury, which must keep that veteran out of the hurlyburly for some months, has summoned the major to act as understudy to the Socialist leader in the House of Commons. It is a great opportunity, and Major Attlee has qualifications that no other Labour compeers can show. His education has been severely arthodox. He went to Haileybury before going to Oxford, has been called to the bar, and, besides later serving with the Simon Commission, saw active service in a Sam Browne bent in various theatres of the Great War. But not to everybody is given the gift of parliamentary leadership. It will be interesting to see how Major Attlee shapes at the job. One symptom is already evident. He is shifting his point of view more towards the Left, a tactical advantage maybe, but perhaps strategically short-sighted. PEERS AND PARLIAMENT ACT. Looking round the House of Lords during the debate on Second Chamber reform, I was interested to note that of those who took part in the fight over the Parliament Act twenty-two years ago, neither front bench had a surviving representative. The only possible exception was Lord Ponsonby, who in 1911 was a back bench member of the House of Commons. Lord Crewe, then a central figure, Lord Reading, Lord Buxton, and Lord Mottistone are now unofficial members. Of the twenty-three members of the Cabinet of that day thirteen still survive, but only Mr Lloyd George, Sir Herbert Samuel, Mr Bunciman, and Mr Churchill are now politically active. ATLANTIC RIVALRY. It was a popular decision that ensured resumption of work on the new giant Cunarder. The public likes to think that nearly four thousand skilled hands may be lifted off the dole and restored to a self-respecting job. Indirectly, of course, many times that number of workers will be affected by renewed activity of the great liner. Probably the chief satisfaction, so far as the general public is concerned, is that once again the Union Jack is to challenge for the blue ribbon of the Atlantic, Already the Germans, who triumphantly hold it, are_ taking steps to consolidate their position. The two principal German lines are embarking on a rationalisation plan to cut down overhead costs and tighten up effective competition. The Atlantic blue ribbon will neither be won nor held without a keen fight, and both Italy and France may seriously enter the lists. SIR HENRY DICKENS. The death of Sir Henry Fielding Dickens, last surviving child of the great Victorian novelist, is one more tragedy of tho roads. The übiquitous motor car has claimed several very distinguished veterans during the past few months. Though the last immediate descendant of Boz is now gone, at the age of eighty-four, several grandchildren carry on the illustrious liter-

ary name. I often travelled up to town with Sir Henry, and like everybody else who met him I was amazed by his marvellous virility.. He looked, moved, and talked like a man at least a decade younger than his actual age. He was also a most kindly soul, full of interest and sympathy, and, of course, a mine of fascinating Dickensian lore. It is very sad to think that his days, however limited, have been abruptly cut short by another “street accident.” OLD STYLE. The new president of the Royal Institute of Water Colour Painters, Mr Terrick Williams, who succeeds that famous veteran, the late Sir David Murray is seventy-three years of age, and is a Liverpool man, though his name clearly points to a Celtic ancestry. He became a full R.A. only last year. - He is not among the modernists, but is an accomplished technician, and paints pictures with romance as well as brushes, with the result that mst people would rather gaze on them than on the approved work of the modernists. He is president of the Nottingham Society of Artists. Mr Terrick Williams is, when he is not at work and off duty, a keen billiard player, and, like so many artists, a really good performer on the green cloth. Eve must be more important than touch at billiards, because, whilst artists are good at it, most musicians are distinctly poor. UNCLE SAM’S SEA SERPENT. Scoffers at the idea of appointing a Zoological Commission to investigate affairs at Loch Ness are perhaps unaware that such a course was adopted by a scientific body over a hundred years ago. In the year 1819 scores of observers reported the appearance of a strange sea monster all along the New England coast. So insistent was their evidence that the Bostol Linnean Society set up a learned committee to report upon the matter.. The Hon. Judge Davis, Professor Bigelow, and Mr F. O. Gray, as members of this body, drew up a statement describing the_ apparent existence of a creature with numerous protuberances like a string of buoys, which usually carried its head some 2ft above sea level. They reported also that a skilful gunner had fired upon the monster, and believed that he had registered a bull’s-eye hit, but that the sea serpent had merely dived and returned to the surface some hundred yards behind the boat. ST. PATRICK. The movement to erect a statue of St. Patrick in Dublin has now reached the stage of choosing the sculptor. A sum of about £5,000 has been raised and two sculptors, naturally both emerald-green Irishmen, have been_ left in as possibles. One of the two is, I believe, a resident in Chelsea. Behind the St. Patrick project, it is understood, lurks no sort of political gesture. The ambition is simply to honour Ireland’s patron saint in his own capital, and the favoured manner is a loftv monument, visible from far and near, with a statue of the anti-snake saint on top. It is the sort of work at which Mr Epstein would have shone, but I suppose there was no chance at any time of getting the St. Patrick Committee to turn their thoughts in that direction. This is a _ pity. I should have liked to listen in to the Hibernian battle which would certainly have followed on the unveiling of a genuine Epstein St. Patrick. ROYAL TURF WINNINGS. King George’s personal interest _ in horse racing has never equalled King Edward’s. But our King is genuinely fond of the sport, and has persevered with it in spite of little encouragement in the way of winning _ horses. This past season, however. His Majesty did much better, thanks mainly to‘timelight, and he has shown his gratification by giving silver cups to Jarvis, his trainer, and Joe Childs, his jockey. The King’s winnings total just over £B,OOO, which is quite a respectable total, though hardly comparing with King Edward’s total of £30,000 won in prize money in 1900. Nine years later King Edward won over £20,000. mainly owing to the speed of that famous racer, Minoru, which was first in the Two Thousand Guineas and also in the Derby. King Edward relied greatly for bis racing tips on the late Lord Wavertree, who was not only a sound judge of horseflesh, but a very fine amateur rider, too. EASY COME, EASY GO. The death of Tod Sloan has made a big noise in the papers, despite the, fact that ho was out of the news for many a year. His was a tragic career, typical of only too many great sporting favourites. Son of an Indiana barber, who nicknamed him “Toad,” a designation the owner later expanded into Todhunter, he made a meteoric rise as a jockey, introduced the forward crouch, of which some experts still strongly disapprove, and made pots of money. He came foul of the Jockey Club, and returned to win new triumphs in America. But then he fell on lean times, squandered his money as lightly as he made it in palmier days, and at one time earned a few dollars by being shown by his friend Kid Mac Coy, the boxer, as a dwarf. He married three times. Latterly his only earnings were picked up round the Hollywood film studios. Gambling was in bis blood. He was fast on a horse as on a cheque. BUSINESS AS USUAL. London is reviving the sprat supper. These functions were once as fashion-

able as whitebait dinners, and much observed in stage and sporting circles. Even Sir Henry Irving did not scorn such festivals after the show, and George Edwardes liked to celebrate a Gaiety first night in the brave old days with a sprat supper. A very old friend of mine who is a member of the Constitutional Club has never wavered in his devotion to fried _ sprats. For many years h© never missed that item when it appeared in the club menu. When the bugles blew across Europe in 1914 his favourite club waiter changed bis club livery for a khaki tunic, and vanished for three years into the battle smoke. One night early in 1918 my friend took his customary seat at the dinner table, and was startled to hear a familiar voice at his elbow respectfully suggesting “there are fried sprats on to-night, sir.”