LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 22350, 28 May 1936, Page 16

LONDON TOPICS

DEMOCRACY'S HANDICAP fFsou Our Corrispondjhst.] (By Air Mail.) April 30. Our politicians arc building their hopes of a brighter European outlook on the conclusion of the French elections. They trust that, once these domestic upheavals arc over and done with, whatever the results, French diplomacy will dream a better dream. This necessity to play up to the electoral gallery imposes a heavy handicap on the more democratic countries in time of crisis. Hitler’s .Rhineland emeute on the eve of the German elections may be cited as evidence that even dictatorships arc not immune from similar emergencies, but elections conducted on the Nazi system present no real obstacles to autocratic policy. It will be important to see which way the French elections go, whether to the Right or to the Left, and it is hard to guess how recent events may help to sway the voting one way or the other. But the best thing for France, and Europe, would be a conclusive majority which would give promise of a more stable Ministry than France usually enjoys. BUDGET MYSTERY. What puzzles everybody about the Budget is why, when ho tells us there must bo a loan for defence purposes later on, Mr Chamberlain must needs incur the odium of adding even 3d to income tax. The yield of 3d will bo only half what Gd would bring, yet the unpopularity, and the setback to spending, will be the same. Nothing helped so much to our trade recovery as the slight easement in this tax, which put more spending money in the pockets of a spending community. Why did the Treasury, which must have realised all this, insist on that obnoxious 3d P income tax at virtually 5s in the pound in peace time, even though there arc war clouds about, is indefensible. It shrivels the sinew's of war, even defensive wmr. The answer to this problem is, it is suggested, the storm that greeted the first dole revision. Ministers know the revised version of the dole schedule must be tackled at once, and, by turning the taxation screw, they count on enlisting a considerable body of sympathy with economy. BUDGET LEAKAGE. The Cabinet owes it to itself, its officials, and the public to have the Budget leakage thoroughly probed, without fear, favour, or affection. It now appears that the Budget-eve insurances against the increased income tax and tea duty were on a considerable scale, which puts quite out of court any notion that intelligent anticipation rather than dead knowdedge on someone’s part inspired the city coup. We have been honourably free from financial scandal in our Budget history, though a few’ years ago some American speculators, taking advantage of the clock, did rather w'ell out of premature information. These insurances, however, are in quite a different category. Even though some officials knew about income tax and others about tea duty, neither knew both facts. Any attempts to burk the most stringent inquiry, of which fortunately there is no fear, would be disastrous in more ways than one. FUTURE OF MANDATED TERRITORIES. The House of Commons these days is showing how little politicians understand the simplest rules of diplomacy. It is doubtful whether, in the present circumstances, anything could be more embarrassing to tho Government than the constant pressure which is always being put upon it by members of all parties to make some definite statement of its future intentions with regard to the mandated territories. Mr Baldwin, in general the sweetest tempered of mortals, became quite crusty when urged to commit himself to an undertaking for the future. Strictly speaking. such questions are not permissible, as by the nature of things they are hypothetical. Apart from this, however, it should be clear to anyone possessed of a rudimentary sense of tactfulness, that commitment at this juncture to any hard and fast policy for the future could only be prejudicial to hopes of European appeasement on the one hand, or to the contentment of overseas dependencies on the other. The problem of the mandated territories, and for that matter all the semideveloped or undeveloped portions of the globe, must come under world review sooner or later if causes of war are to bo removed, but until the more vital issues closer at hand arc settled the less said about such matters the better for everyone—ourselves as much as the native races concerned. SIR SAMUEL HOARE. When Sir Samuel Iloare left the Treasury bench no one supposed that his banishment was likely to bo other than brief and temporary. It is needless to discuss whether lie is specially fitted for tho Admiralty; he is one of those Ministers who can fit in anywhere, for he is a tireless worker and, whatever job ho lias in hand, takes pains to qualify himself for it. His return to the Cabinet will strengthen the position of Mr Baldwin; their friendship is of long standing, and the Prime Minister is conscious that he had his share of responsibility for the Hoare-Laval incident. Lord Monscll has earned the right to retire, although he is still a young man; his years as Chief Whip were exacting. BY THE WORLD FORGOT. Lord Crewe has written to ask why our exemplary acts of post-war disarmament passed unheeded by the rest of a naughty world. His lordship seems to imply that, if we had advertised these pacifist economics more strenuously to the rest of Europe, foreign militarists might have been more impressed by a policy which enabled us to ride buoyantly through the economic blizzard and still maintain our huge expenditure on social well-being. If this view sounds idyllic it can bo explained by its source. Lord Crewe writes from West Horsley Place, a magnificent Elizabethan seat far from tho madding crowd’s ignoble strife, and located in a coo] sequestered vale of life. Half a dozen times in a summer, strolling footpathwise from Horsley over the Surrey Downs by way of their Ranmorc ramparts to Shore or Gomshall, I pass this stately English home. It basks drowsily in n haze of rural peace, shrugging its patrician shoulders at tho world’s unrest. But I saw other patrician homes, hardly less desirable, turned into rubble heaps in France and Belgiifm in 1914. KING’S CIVIL LIST. I am told that when flic King’s Civil List is presented to Parliament mi drastic changes will he found. The presentation of the list will not be long delayed now that the Budget has been introduced, nor will there be any dis-

mission upon it. All parlies wore represented on the special Select Committee appointed to consider the matter, and that being the case, it would bo a breach of custom if discussion ensued in the House on the contents of the list. The committee had an advantage over former ones, as it had tho services of Sir Ralph Harwood, the King’s Financial Secretary, to assist it. Sir Ralph is a Treasury-trained official. He was seconded to Buckingham Palace for duty when King George invited the Treasury to give him tho services of an export ito overhaul tho palace finances in 1931. He had an extremely difficult time, and at one stage aroused much opposition to his proposals. Time has, however, shown that they were sound and effective. The late King expressed his appreciation by a knighthood and finally, greatest compliment of all, by creating Sir Ralph his financial secretary. ST. GEORGE. Our English April so far relented its rigours that St. George’s Day saw London bathed in almost a summer haze, and it was a brave sight to behold so many gallant ensigns fluttering in the breeze from offices, factories, churches, aud taverns. The admirable habit of wearing a rose on England’s patron saint day, which was being fostered just before the war, has unhappily well-nigh died out. Why English people should be less demonstrative than is the Celtic fringe on its saint days it is hard to understand. St. George has been vindicated from tho gross libel of the historian Gibbon, who tried to identify him with a venal Levantine bishop of the third century who amassed a fortune by supplying bad moat to the Roman legionaries in the capacity of army contractor. The true original of St. George was a martyred Roman commander whose burial place is marked by an ancient church. Never was there more reason for us to uphold the St. George tradition of freedom and chivalry. As we observe the menace of gas-masked Europe we may well cry, “ God for Teddy, England, and St. George!” GALLIPOLI. Survivors of our gallant 29th Division and of the dauntless Anzacs who shared their epic have just celebrated the twenty-first anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. Facts now available establish that, whether or not that bitter campaign was well managed, it was brilliantly inspired. Had the adventure received adequate backing the war would have been cut short by perhaps two years, and, apart from the blood and treasure saved, the face of European politics to-day would have been incredibly different. One cataclysm omitted would have been the Russian revolution. That the Suvla Bay episode was cruelly bungled, just as that our Fleet attack was called off in the very moment of its success, is indisputable. But we now know, too, that more than a year before the war wo were asked by Turkey to conclude a defensive alliance. That offer was turned down on emotional grounds similar to those which have inspired our recent disastrous Abyssinian policy. Germany snapped at the opportunity we rejected, and Liman von Sanders became Russia’s gaoler. VERSATILE GENIUS. Bernard van Dieren, who has died in London at tho age of 48, was an amazing personality. Son of a Dutch father and French mother, lie came to London as a youth, and, though trained at Leyden fur a scientific career, took to music and journalism. Hardly known except to an inner musical circle, though some of bis musical compositions were broadcast by the 8.8. C., van'Dieren was regarded with almost veneration within that circle. Yet, though adored by musical highbrows, he himself scorned highbrow ambitions, believing that popular dance music is more vital than still-born ambitious stuff. He was better qualified in medicine and surgery than many doctors, having studied those subjects at Leyden, an X-ray expert, intensely modern in his outlook, brilliant as a critic, and his talk fascinated so able a mind as Arnold Bennett. Among his close friends was Epstein,, the sculptor, to whom he posed for the much-debated Christ statue. Though still caviare to the general, van Dieren has left his murk on British music. POLAND’S CURRENCY. By the announcement that Poland is likely to leave the gold standard, 1 am reminded of an experience I had in a Warsaw bank shortly after the war. The country’s currency was then sadly depreciated, and, after a process, compared with which tho making of my will would have been simple, I received in return for a £5 note a wad of Polish marks nearly 2in thick. Inside Poland they secured wonderful bargains; a meal at the principal restaurant cost the equivalent of about 3s, including drinks. But when I got as far as Berlin on the way home the sleeping-car attendant would hardly accept tho Polish marks as part of bis tip. STAR-GAZING. Nobody who knows anything of astronomy or astronomers will dispute chat both have their epic touch. There is something sublime in the fact that, with Europe on the brink of carnage and America in the coils of economic catastrophe, astronomers on both sides of the Atlantic are blissfully intent on star-gazing. On the crack of doom, these savants ot tho skies are absorbed with interest, not in mundane affairs, but in the making of the world’s biggest telescope. This mighty instrument, with which it is hoped to probe the remoter mysteries of the universe, will have a 200 in reflecting mirror, double the size of tho existing biggest, and four times as powerful. Tho 20-ton disc of pyrex glass took a year to anneal, and will take three or four more to polish and grind. The giant telescope will be located at Pasadena, in a part of Californa remote from city glare. By its means astronomers will plumb secrets of starry constellations whose light took 250,000,000 years to reach us, and whose weight is 160,000,000,000 times that of our sun. TANK LEADERS. It is on its mechanised side that tho Army will benefit most from the sudden resolve of the Cabinet not to starve our defence forces into sheer impotence. From being weaker than any other first-class Power, notably Italy, in the weapon wo invented, we shall shortly possess the best tank equipment in the world. This would be of small use without the right spirit of leadership to inspire it. On this score Army men i-ejoico that Brigadier P. C. S. Hobart, instead of retiring on half pay, is to remain in command of the Ist Tank Corps on completing his term as inspector of tanks. Brigadier Hobart, who comes of Irish stoek and is an old Clifton College boy, started his Army career with the Royal Engineers, ami saw hard fighting on the North-west Frontier before winning innumerable “mentions” on the Western Front. He was at Neuve Cbapelle, where be won his M.C., and Festubert, besides sharing tho Mesopotamian campaign, where he got his D.S.O. before becoming a wounded prisoner of war. What he does not know about tanks is not worth learning. FASTEST AFLOAT, Tho general public may hardly have grasped the potentiality of the wonder motor boat recently tested on the Lon-

don Thames. This craft, built of elm ami mahogany, has two engines which develop a thousand horse power. With two torpedoes aboard, and depth charges as well, four machine guns, and a smoke screen, this handy little craft can attain a speed that would make tiie Queen Mary, or even our slickest t.b.d., look rather like slow-coaches. The Italian Press has been telling the world what its_ fast “sea sleds” can, and more especially could, do if it came to trouble in the Mediterranean. Jn “ motor boat 2,353 ” the British Admiralty possesses a novelty that also has its obvious utilities, especially in coastal defence, or in dealing with submarines. It was on vessels of this type that the late Aircraftsman Shaw was engaging Ids attention just before ids tragic end. Amongst other accomplishments the 2,353 can jump a harbour boom at full speed. So there is a joyous possibility that the near future of our Fleet relaxations may include a marine steeplechase I HERB OF OMEN. A remarkable newspaper correspondence lias been in progress about the various rustic superstitions regarding parsley in different parts of England. It is deemed fatal to give away a parsley root, holding death in the household either of the donor or the recipient. Another belief is that to sow parsley is of sinister omen, unless it is done by the mistress of the house, in which 'case it is lucky. Highbrow people are expressing surprise at these queer rural beliefs, and wondering how they originated. This amazement does not reflect so much credit on our classical education as does the parsley superstition itself. The belief in the ill omen of parsley is a survival of the days when in ancient Greece graves were decked with this herb because of its enduring virtues. To an Athenian of old “ he needs only parsley ” meant only one thing. It was an accepted metaphor for “he is dead.” What is remarkable is that a classic social usage of centuries A.n. should still linger in English hamlets in A.n. 1936. SIMPLE FAITH. Only one paper has recalled, apropos the demise at a great ago of the late Bishop Creighton’s widow, one of the best stories of last century. J)r Mandell Creighton was a distinguished Victorian divine, and at one time Bishop of Peterborough. Humour had it that ho was to become the new Bishop of London, and 1 an emissary of Fleet street called at the bishop’s palace in Peterborough to verify the report. He was received by the bishop's small daughter. When asked whether it was correct that her papa had been appointed Bishop of London this young lady replied: “I cannot toll you yet. Father is upstairs praying for guidance.” The pressman inquired where Mrs Mandell Creighton was. “Oh,” said the little daughter, “ mamma’s downstairs packing!” The death of that lady now destroys the last peg on which to hang that verv jovons story, which so admirably 'illustrates the psychology _ of the two sexes when _it comes to important mundane decisions. EGYPT’S DEAD KING. Though of corpulent habit, like most affluent middle-aged Orientals, King Fuad of Egypt, first constitutional monarch in the Land of the Pharaohs, was a handsome, good-humoured man. His heir, the Crown Prince Fqrouk, an intelligent and likeable lad, has been living at Kingston-on-Thames whilst studying soldiering at Woolwich. How King Fuad’s death may affect AngloErryptian relations depends on the personnel of the Regency that will presumably now ensue. The late King was not exactly an Anglophile, and Lord Allenby, as Pro-consul soon after the war, had to show the iron hand. But the palace clique’s anti-British activities have always been held in check by dread of the Wafd extremists. Nino years ago King Fuad came to London, and stayed three days at Buckingham Palace, afterwards spending the sum mer in England. Heavily in debt when ho became King, he died a multi-mil-lionaire, despite Oriental luxury and a pronounced zest for his native and other lieshpots, ROYAL ACADEMY. It is almost a Fleet street cliche that the current year’s Royal Academy Exhibition is the worst over. This time it is very nearly true. It lacks distinction most depressingly. The average of technique is fairly good, but there is hardly an outstanding or memorable picture, and very few of the minor works that arouse any itch of possession. All the old names are represented, mostly in the well-known old manner, only more so, but with rather less than usual vigour or inspiration. _ The painters seem tired. Laura Knight's diploma work, ‘ Dawn,’ a study of two girls, needs no comment. It is a fine piece of painting, but familiar as a back number. But, besides the inevitable circus and ballet girl works, the new lady R.A. exhibits a Cornish landscape, with rainbow, which the R.A. has promptly bought for the nation. Mr Alurulings, too, breaks new ground. He has a pleasing, humorous sketch of an artist painting at his easel in the country', with not even the tail of a horse visible.

One notable feature is an epidemic of red-beaded ladies, the host being Augustus John's portrait o" a charming one. Most of the portraits are either city magnates or elderly dames of presumptive means. Their inspiration, one feels, was purely commercial, and not that artistic fervour inspired in great painters of other days by languishing Court beauties. Amongst the interesting studies, however, are Prampton’s Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir William Rotherstein’s self-portrait, Lavery’s Lady Beauchamp, Codner’s Field-Marhsal Milne, Hamshire’s Bishop Heywood, Elwes’s ambitious portrait of the Duke of York as an 11th Hussar colonel, Ross’s G. B. Stern in dressing gown with a bottle of hock. White’s Hore-Bclisha, and the president’s Archbishop of Canterbury. Salisbury’s painting of the St. Paul's jpbiloo service is clever, but neither of the artists who paint the Princes mounting guard over King George’s catafalque does justice to the glamour of Westminster Hall. Russell Flint's ‘ Four Singers of Vera ’ is the most distinguished work in the exhibition. PROBLEM PICTURE. Simpson’s Cornish coast scene and Talmage’s ‘ King of the Winds,’ a recondite glimpse - f level meadowlands, are amongst the finest landscapes. Geargc Belcher contributes two amusing studies, one of a street cornet player rehearsing after lunch. Another humorous piece is Hutchinson’s ‘ Homage to A. P. Herbert,’ with the landlord pouring out a bottle of beer in a bar parlour for a gentleman who does not belong to the Band of Hope. There arc not many nudes this year, but Glehn has a big canvas, full of light and form, of a poet seeking the divine afflatus amongst a galaxy of pink muses; and there is a study of the oast facade of a lady who has not gone in for slimming. Doris Zinheisen has two clever portraits, one a provocative “ m«dcrn ” of a girl with green hair and black gloves. Elwes also has a portrait of Sir Richard Sykes in hunting kit. with family butler complete. Loigh-Pomborton's ‘ The Window,’ a group of youths outside a closed tavern, is the “ problem ” picture of the year. One is in doubt whether they arc rival Romeos or merely communal thirsty souls.