NEWS AND OPINIONS

Evening Star, Issue 21992, 30 March 1935, Page 2

NEWS AND OPINIONS

MR RAMSAY MACDONALD. With the air thick with, every kind of rumour about Cabinet construction it is as well to stick to the two or three hard facts of the situation. And the hardest of them is the now all-but universal insistence that the Government must have a head., Mr MacDonald, I am told, presides over Cabinet meetings with considerable efficiency, but apart from that he might as well be non-existent. The spectacle of the Prime Minister without a word to say on the second reading of the India Bill, or the emergency Bill on Unemployment Assistance, is, in all the circumstances, astonishing. Never in living memory has an Administration been »o leaderless, and the nearer the election comes the more alarmed members and candidates are getting at the effect that may have on their prospects. So far a* the Prime Minister’s health disables him he can count on very genuine sympathy, but the future of the National Government is more important than the futur» of any single Minister,—“ Janus,” in the ‘ Spectator.’ AUTHOR OF WHITLEY COUNCILS. The term “ great public servant ” ia commonly reserved for men like Sir Robert Morant, who have left a notable mark on the Civil Service in which their lives were spent. But if by the term ia meant a man who spends his life without thought of reward or recognition in the service of the public I can think of no one to whom it could more fittingly, be applied than Mr Whitley. He was. it is true, paid a salary as chairman of the Board of Directors of the 8.8. C., hut I am quite certain that he no mor« sought that emolument than he sought the peerage which he in fact declined on leaving the Speaker’s chair. Hi* name will be perpetuated in this country by the Whitley Councils and in India by the Royal Commission on Labour in British India, over which he presided. His service was not in reality unrewarded, for Mr Whitley was a man to whom service was its own rewardHappy the land in which such citizeni abound—“ Janus,” jn the ‘ Spectator.’ A JUST RETORT. The time has not yet arrived when tho taunt that a man is “ merely the son of a tradesman ” will affect prejudicially public opinion of the person alluded to (writes the Sydney correspondent of the Melbourne ‘ Argus Ninety per cent, of the population may be soils or grandsons ot “ trades persons,” that is, of persons who have kept shops or stores, or sons of farmers (from sheep to fowls). Some sheep farmers may think the poultry farmer “no class,” but the poultry farmer may presently become a station owner, not an uncommon experience in Australia. There is little snobbishness here. What there is does not as a rule .appear in the quarter from which it might be expected, but from “ the proletariat,” the Domain orator loves to speak' of the ordinary folk. These remarks are evoked by the Premier’s retort to someone who described him as “merely the son of a tradesman.” It was no doubt thought that it would wound him, but as he has reasqu to be proud of his personal progress it could hardly do that in the eyes of intelligent and honest people. “I am proud,” said Mr Stevens, “to say that is true. lam proud that I am the son of a firstclass carpenter, a loyal trades unionists I owe him more than I can say.” Thera was, however, no need for Mr Stevens to give this reminder of his regard for Kis father and for his mother. Throughout his life he has indicated proper appreciation of their training. CASABIANCA, The new generation is getting to know Casabianca, once a name of power in the schools. The Boy Who Stood on the Burning Deck .was Giacomo, whose father, Louis Casabianca, was captain of the French man of war I’Orient at Aboukir. The last descendant of the family was present at the launch at Saint Nazaire last week-end when the new submarine ' Casabianca waa launched. The consolatory reflection offers itself that, whatever may be the adventures of the junior members of the new crew, they are not likely to win immortality in precisely that fashion. • Indeed, the emotions of the Casabianca exploit are rather remote. As Mrs Heraans records in her poem, the hoy was told to wait, and he waited. His constancy has also been celebrated by two French bards, Lebrun and Chenier. It is rather melancholy to think that what three poets and all the world acclaimed a hundred years ago as a prime example of duty is now criticised as an unintelligent adherence to routine. —* Observer. ’ THE FUTURE OF MUSIC. “ Two months’ tour of the United States has strengthened my conviction, which has been growing since I left for Australia, that the future of music—-its vitality and inspiration—depend Upon young countries like Australia’ and jLpienca.” The famous composer-con-ductor, Sir Hamilton Harty, made this statement after his arrival from America. “ Europeans tend to take music for granted, and pretend to know all about it,” he said. “ But Australia and America approach it with youthful and serious eagerness, resulting in a full concert hall. lam negotiating to go to Australia in 1936, because I am keen to contribute to the work of fostering music there.”

TOWN OF SIXTY CENTURIES AGO.

The archaeological expedition of the University of Pennsylvania, led by Dr Charles Bache, has uncovered in the Tepe Gawra. a mound in Northern Iraq, an eleventh in the series of towns which have been unearthed in succession one below the other in that mound. This town is reckoned to be about eight centuries older than the city of 8250 b.c. which was excavated there in 1927, Twelve strata of civilisation have now been revealed, some of them under silt believed to have been deposited by Noah’s Flood. . ■ . In this newly-discovered town build* ing construction and pottery are of equal quality to those of the later cultures. Among the discoveries ar« household uteusils, receptacles for cosmetics, and other remains of domestio life. Several tombs have been found where bodies had been placed in wooden coffins and buried in graves of mudbrick, reinforced with wooden posts and a sheathing of reeds.—‘ The Times.’