NEWS AND OPINIONS

Evening Star, Issue 22276, 29 February 1936, Page 2

NEWS AND OPINIONS

THE GERMAN SOFA If Dr Ley, leader of the Gernu.— Labour Front (says the ‘ Manchester Guardian ’) succeeds in his campaign for the abolition of the sofa as cumbersome and unhygienic he will strike at a deeply-rooted social tradition of his countrywomen, who have been trained for generations in due observance of “ the etiquette ,of the' sofa.” In many (rev uian homes the sofa has long been invested with something of the sanctity of a throne, and no one would <• dare to sit on it without special invitation. When receiving guests the ' German housewife was long in the habit of indicating to them their position on (or off) the sofa as carefully as an English hostess arranges seats at dinner, with rank and wealth at the head n ncor relations at the Iftttom, or left to content themselves ' with mere chairs. To a lover calling on his sweetheart an invitation from the lady’s mother to sit on the sofa is, or used to be, a sign of his suit finding favour in the parental eyes. SCOTLAND YARD Scotland Yard is visited by many sightseers—detective fiction fans (writes the London correspondent of the Melbourne ‘ Age They ;stand and gaze about its purlieus arjd wonder which of the burly plain-clothes men who pass in, and out are the actual, equivalents of, say ‘‘lnspector French ” or Lord ’ Peter Wimsey’s brother -in - law, “ Superintendent Charles Parker.” But Scotland Yard by day does not give them all the thrill it could; everything seems too ordinary afad above board, and no' traces of mystery and romance are apparent. Nor has it, until now, been, much more mysterious at night. But now, with a little imagination, one can after dark work up a pleasing shudddr, thanks to a new method of illumination which tho .Yard has introduced. From the com-' paratively golden radiance of the neigh* bouring streets one passes into a yard, illuminated by electric discharge lamps, the first to be erected in inner London, which cast a sinister greenish light. One feels at once a touch of tho i macabre: the complexion of every passer-by seen hi this light suggests a morgue, or at best, _ a bad Channel crossing. Pallid policemen, glaucous sergeants, lurk roundiycorhers. and—most gruesome effect of this lignt—they throw no shadows, The ,long black wait- . ing cars of the Flying Squad, each containing its wireless Equipment—innocent looking by .-.day—seem sombre chariots of doom, ' ..No face can look healthy or guiltless in such a light; a thrill is there rigSs?enough for lovers qf-high-powered fiction. And none without V very clear conscience should call on business at Scotland Yard after dark or his looks will now infallibly belie him. • ASTIVB VETERANS We hear the young people under 40 just now/ but meantime their, elders are not idle, writes a contributor to the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ Sir James Barrie, at 1 7.6, is producing a new three-act play ‘at Edinburgh this month, with Miss Elizabeth Bergner in the chief part.' Mr George Bernard Shaw, in his eightieth year, has a new play, ‘The Millionairess,’ that is being produced in Atistria, and Mr Cunningname Graham,' who is four years his senior, has written a new book of short stories, ‘Mirage,’ which Heinemann are publishing shortly. _ Moreover, this magnificent octogenarian is having an omnibus book published of his short stories, and is’sailing soon for Brazil, where a town is being named after him. He intends to stay for a time in a hill ■village ■Rib.;'r’Mr Tschiffely, the ’famous ‘hdfs.ematf, who i;ode two horses from Central South America to New York, is getting on’with his biography of Mr Cunninghame, Graham. : POLITICIANS AND PLAY It is exceedingly hard for the outsider to get precisely the right interpretation of a foreign country’s reaction to its own habits or institutions, says the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ Even such an experienced student of England as M. Andre Maurois, who has foi- ■ lowed the curiosities of British national character into many subtle regions, seems to have gone slightly astray in his remarks in the ‘ F igaro ’ on the British public’s attitude towards Sir Samuel Hoare’s readiness to go skating in the teeth of impending crisis. it may be quite true to say that Englishmen approve of statesmen who have other interests besides statecraft, and that no politician runs any risk of being driven from office because, like M. Briand in an unlucky moment, he is tempted from world affairs into a round of golf. But it is a big step from that fact to M. Maufois’s wider proposition that ■“ in England a Minister who despises all sports is a surprise and a subject of distrust to the electorate.” That seems hardly so. Joseph Chamberlain was not “a subject of distrust ” (except to his politi-, cal opponents), and yet he was greatly averse from anything in the way of “ organised games ”, and is understood to have held the view that the ordinary amount of walking up and down stairs in the course of a day ought to supply all the exercise that man needs. Nor, for that matter, does Mr Baldwin rank as much of a games worshipper, unless a supposed fondness for pigs and’ pipes is to be counted as a form of field sport. The really English attitude towards games for the politician seems lather to be that it does not matter either way. He can take exercise only if he wants to and without becoming an object of distrust; he can systematically avoid exercise with precisely the same result. WOMEN AND THE MINISTRY News has been ’ received by the Methodist Church authorities in Victoria that 79 presbyteries of the United Church of Canada, out of 114, have voted in favour of the ordination of women. The Methodist ‘ Spectator ’■ asserts that it is almost certain the next general council of the Canadian, church will give effect to the majority decision and will open the door of the ministry to woman candidates. ■ The hope is expressed that the Canadian experiment will point the a similar move in Victoria. In Victoria there' are already a number of accredited woman local preachers, _ and several women have made ’ application to the conference in recent years for admission to the ministry. The ‘ Spectator ’ observes: “ Our own general conference in Australia, while giving consent to the principle, has stated that in view of the practical _ difficulties the church for the present is unable to accept woman candidates into its ministry, but believes that the constitution of an order of deaconesses may offer a suitable opportunity for consecrated service.” ■ x