LONDON TOPICS

Evening Star, Issue 22818, 29 November 1937, Page 13

LONDON TOPICS

1. G.'S FEROCIOUS ATTACK PEACE OFFER BLUFF BY JAPAN [FkOU OtJE CORRKSPONDEN'T.] [By Aik Mail.] November 4. 3\lr Lloyd George’s slashing indictment of the Government’s foreign policy has had an unusually hostile reception among those Government supporters who are generally the first to pay tribute to the elder statesman’s entertainment value in the House, whatever his subject, and whoever it may be that he singles oilt for attack. His ferocious onslaught on the dictators is considered to be frankly mischievous. For although “ L.G.” was voicing criticisms latent in the minds of many Government M.P.s, it is felt that the manner and content of the speech, particularly in its application to Italy, will do much to undermine the perceptible improvement in AngloItalian relations laboriously built up by the Foreign Secretary in the past two or three weeks. Mr Lloyd George may be a dazzling star in Parliament, but he is waning rapidly as a political force, and as such he commands much less attention at Westminster than he does abroad, where he is still, regarded as a powerful and representative battering ram against the Government. It needs but a touch of journalistic twisting in the Italian Press to transform this statesman’s allegations of Government “ cowardice ” into a firstclass “ crisis ” for the Cabinet. There is no disposition in diplomatic circles here to pay serious regard to Japan’s so-called “ peace offer ” to China. If the terms of that offer are even approximately such as have been published here they are preposterous. Even Japan, with all her bumptious ‘egoism, can hardly imagine that China could submit to them. She must also be aware that in the extraordinary event of such terms receiving China’s acceptance, the interests of other Powers would- be so adversely affected as to create a new international crisis of the utmost gravity. The real explanation of Japan’s move is doubtless that she has thrown out her proposals in the hope that they may serve as a smoke bomb to befog clear thinking at the forthcoming Brussels Conference. PALESTINE CHANGES. The official intimation of Sir Arthur Wauchope’s retirement as High Commissioner in Palestine, and the suggestion in one London paper that his successor will be Sir John Anderson, Go-, vernor of Bengal, are not news to my readers. Both these events were explicitly _ foreshadowed in this column some time ago. It is no secret, to those in touch with official opinion, that there has been dissatisfaction, both here and on the spot, with the handling of intransigent influences in the Near East. We have displayed a tolerance too often interpreted as weakness, . and when firm action has been adopted its adoption came " often enough too late. The High Commissioner’s ill-health may have in some part accounted for these complaints. Sir John Anderson’s Bengal Governorship expires this month, and his transference to Palestine 'would undoubtedly inspire confidence both in Jerusalem and Whitehall. ■ Sir John’s tackling, often at grave risks to his life, of similar troubles in India has been characterised by a _ discriminating firmness that marks him out as the man for Palestine. Whether he will accept the post, however, has not yet been made known. A TIGHT FIT, The Parliamentary Labour Party is in a fair way to rival the Peruvian army in regard to the preponderance of leaders over “ other ranks.” It is all the outcome of Mr Emanuel Shinwell’s “ ginger ’- memorandum for the reform

of the party’s parliamentary machinery. As the result of a private meeting it has been decided to reinforce the Front Bench by the addition of 12 more ocr cupants, to be selected by the party for their energy and force of speech. It will make the ■ Front Bench quite a tight fit for the occupants; for the elected dozen will have to find places between the 12 members of the party executive and the Whips, whose total strength has been raised from seven to nine—a precaution which suggests that the party foresees a recrudescence of disobedience in its rear. This, in all, gives 33 Socialists the right of sitting oh the Front Bench, and now they will accommodate when they all turn up together is a bit of a puzzle. A corner seat, moreover, has to be left for Mr Lloyd George, whose claim to it as elder statesman of the Opposition is undisputed. From L.G. s remarkable performance -in the House last week, it is evident that the-Welsh wizard can still impart more ginger to debate than is forthcoming from the collective efforts of the Socialists, The latter, of course, love it so long as it is dusted out upon the heads of the Government, but they are never quite sure that he may not shake out a few grains of the pungent compound upon themselves. MARCH ON ROME. Last week’s reconstruction of the famous Fascist march on Home in 1922 brought to the capital no fewer, than 100,000 Fascist leaders from all parts of Italy to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the most successful “ putsch in modern history. Indeed, the members of the Nazi delegation who attended might well remember somewhat mournfully that it was only a year later, in 1923, that Herr Hitler, then a comparatively unknown man, dubbed “the'man in the mackintosh,’’ cooperated with Ludendorffi in the abortive rising at Munich. The Italians, unlike the Germans, count their postwar history as dating from the 1922 march-r-made possible very largely by the vacillation of the King, who der dined to issue orders for “mopping up ” —for on all their State documents and even private correspondence they add to the European date the number of years that have accumulated since the Fascist regime began. _ That day will therefore be resristered in Italy as October 28, 1937. XV.” SHANGHAI OUTLOOK. A journalist friend in Shanghai sends me a vivid description of conditions in that ill-fated city. According to him the figures of air raid casualties published in our newspapers are considerably wide of the mark. He and his wife were shopping a quarter of a mile away from the actual scene during one big air raid which caused great havoc. All they got was a fragment of shrapnel on the shop . roof, which they thought had collapsed, but one bomb alone actually killed 1,000 people. So far the only casualty amongst my friend’s newspaper staff has been the accountant, killed during an August raid; but the reporters move about their daily business attired in tin hats as part of their indispensable wear. My friend’s view is that, even after things have settled down again, Shanghai will experience a period of the deepest economic depression. Many firms must almost inevitably be ruined, and, with Shanghai shrunk to much smaller importance, there will be a big foreign exodus from the settlements. INFANTRY, TOO! If our Army experts of the progressive school get their way there may be no more foot-slogging for the P. 8.1. Their theory is that Army mechanisation should bo pushed to its logical conclusion and include the infantry of the line as well as the cavalry and artillery. Infantry are already equipped with motor trucks to carry their' heavier arms and equipment, and at recent manoeuvres these were used also to convey as many infantrymen as could be even inconveniently packed away into them. The results of this rapid movement of troops proved so decisive, according to the experts who were sizing things up, that the obvious denouement is to supply adequate motor trucks to convey not merely a part but the whole of a battalion. Trucks rather than buses or armoured cars are believed to be best. So route marching may in time become as antiquated a military exorcise as fixing bayonets in 13 movements on the march. But Napoleon, as usual, anticipated even this up-to-date innovation. He scandalised—and utterly routed— Prussian and Austrian orthodox commanders by conveying his infantry in carts.

CANON SHEPPARD. Thousands of zealous admirers will mourn the demise of Canon Dick Sheppard. ' It was as vicar of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields that he became famous, partly by reason of the open-door hospitality his orypt extended to London’s social derelicts, but largely because he seized the opportunity that wireless offered to pulpit publicity. It is testimony to the catholicity of the Church of England that its ranks can include both a sheer emotionalist like Canon Sheppard and an austere intellectual like Dean Inge. The former had probably a far bigger following, but who can doubt that the influence of the latter will far outweigh the canon’s. Glasgow loses its Lord Rector within a few days of electing him, and others must now carry through Canon Sheppard’s plan to hold in Hyde Park oh Armistice Day a rival celebration to that at the Whitehall Cenotaph. Laurence Binyon, the poet who wrote that immortal “ Solemn the drums thrill, death august and royal,” ode, has protested against this first attempt to weaken the unity of onr _ remembrance. But there is no arguing with the mentality behind the peace pledge m'ovement. NUMBER 1,029. Modem Atlantic liners usually disappoint people who glimpse them for the first time afloat. They read about their gigantic measurements, but when they see the leviathans in their proper element reality falls far short of imagination’s expectation. This is because, like a well-built athlete perfect symmetry conceals the bulk. Once the disappointed onlooker sets _ foot aboard one, of course, there is a sudden revulsion of sensation. He feels quite disposed to inquire from a steward “ the way to the sea.” But anyone who has seen even a photograph of Number 1,028, the gaint new Cunard-White Star liner now' being laid down at Cammed Laird’s Birkenhead shipyard in the Mersey, must be thrilled by the impression of her immense bulk in skeleton outline. She is to be called Mauretania, after the, most famous vessel that ever ploughed the Western Ocean. Liverpool does not often get a look-in between the Clyde and the Tyne, and Number 1,029’s sturdy Birkenhead shipwrights will be keen as mustard to show the mettle of their pastures. I back her to win the Blue Ribbon. HE JESTS AT CARDS. Dr Paul Stern, the captain of the champion Austrian bridge team who so easily beat their English opponents in London last week, is a jovial fellow who made a very happy impression on those who met him during his visit. Though a man of portly build, he still retains a little of the mischievous look and a good deal of the leg-pulling humour of the eternal schoolboy. As was illustrated once by his bogus lead of h large card from the wrong pack. When he heard that his bridge match was to be broadcast, he prepared a speech for the edification of the British _ public, and was disappointed that no time could be found for its delivery. I imagine, judging from the doctor’s sense of humour, and his unpractised use of the English language, that listeners missed a good thing. During the war Dr Stern served with the Hungarian Hussars, and was wounded five times. Now he is getting his own back from the Entente Cordiale on the friendly battlefield of bridge. For, having defeated the British, he is now conducting minor campaigns in Brussels and Paris. , “PA” JACKSON. In the great world of sport, pretty well every phase of which he sampled personally, Mr Nicholas Lane-Jackson, founder of innumerable outdoor institutions besides the Corinthian Football Club, the London Football Association, the Lawn Tennis Association, and the Stokes Poges and Le Touquet Golf Clubs, was known with genuine affection as “ Pa ” Jackson, He has just died, within a few days of his 88th birthday, at Teignmouth, and he was a typical South Devonian by birth and parentage. Originally intended for an Army career, “ Pa ” Jackson’s life became dedicated to;out-dopr sport. He anticipated the national health movement we are just now launching by about half a century. And he practised what he preached. At 80 he could boast that his weight—lOst BJib —was just the l ' same as when he was 18. He did not smoke, and as a Devonian preferred cider to" beer, but he took wine and spirits in moderation, hated and despised cocktails, and perr formed a set routine of physical jerks every day of his long life. This he combined with a daily long walk. FOR WINDMILL PLANES. A new interest will shortly lie added to the London Thames. The flying manager of the Autogiro Company, with whose windmill planes London’s football crowds are already familiar.

has patented a device, to whiclp the name “ riverdrome ” has been given, for landing and taking off from water. It consists of a platform, 50 yards by 15, with a hinged side to enable it to be swung into the wind, or packed away, when not in use, out of the way of river traffic. These could be located at suitable spots on the London reach of the Thames, say at Westminster and London Bridge, and would afford ample accommodation for autogiro purposes. These machines require no Jong run either for landing or rising, but jump off from a standing position 20ft into the air, enabling the pilot to start his directional flight from that height immediately. Five of the machines are on order for the Air Ministry, and the first is to be tested in January. The “riverdrome” idea is likely to supersede the roof landing, owing to the absence of risk to traffic* in crowded streets. ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE.' Mr E. C. Boulenger,_ director of the Zoo aquarium, has written a fascinating book about it. Incidentally he puts in a good word for the octopus, a, fish much maligned both in fact and metaphor. Mr Boulenger points out that the octopus is no man-eater, and,' moreover, is mightly cute. He has watched an octopus wait as patiently as a Thames angler, with a small stone in one of its tentacles, for a succulent scallop to open the valves of its shell. The moment the scallop was guilty of this weakness, the octopus popped the pebble between, thus preventing the shell closing, and duly devoured the scallop. I was reliably told an even stranger instance of animal intelligence whilst holidaying in the wilds of Wiltshire. A fox has been seen to gather some fluff on its nose, and back slowly into a ,pond. It gradually submerged itself tail first till only its nose-end was above water, mud then swam off, leaving the fluff floating on the pond. It is thus the cunning fox rids itself of vermin, who swarm into the fluff to escape tbe water. DREYFUS.i Mr James Agate’s Dreyfus drama, performed by a capable company at Kew Theatre, revives once poignant memories that are rapidly fading. To recall all The intensity of the Dreyfus case, and the impassioned partisanship it evoked from statesmen and writers in all lands, one must be slightly over middle-age. Curiously enough, the villain of the piece, Major Esterhazy, who ultimately made his escape to England To avoid possible arrest, stayed with friends for some months not far from the present Kew Theatre. His first London lodging was opposite the Thatched House Club in St. L . James’s street, but, after the interlude down at Kew, he finally settled in a'Regent’s Park boarding bouse. It is curious to recall how all the chief actors in the Dreyfus drama, and even the chief commentators, passed away from this mortal scene before the man who played the title role. Dreyfus, honourably reinstated with rank of colonel of artillery, fought gallantly in the Great War, and did not die till 1935. , i TOO REALISTIC! The Church Cinema Council has secured from America the silent film, ‘ From Manger to Cross,’ which aroused great enthusiasm when originally shown years ago. It is obviously just the sort of film needed for their purposes. The big scenes were made on the spot where the divine drama actually enacted itself 19 centuries ago. Difficult even at that time, it would be impossible now, owing to the trouble in Palestine. Even then the producers were warned by the authorities against things likely to arouse Mohammedan and Jewish feeling. Mr HendersonBland, wbo incidentally served with Gough in the war, played the chief role, arid is splendidly endowed physically for that exacting part. So much realism was imparted that it was weeks before he lost the marks of the crown of thorns, and one aeon© had to be reshot because, whilst several nuns fainted, the Mother Superior of an overlooking Catholic institution came out. pa.le and trembling, to tender a chalice with a reviving cordial to the actor. UNPRECEDENTED LAUREATE. Attention has been called to one of those obvious facts that nobody seems to have noticed. Our present Poet Laureate is the only one of the long dynasty of the Malmsbury butt who has been also a novelist. This fact has no application, of course, before Colley Cibber’s day, because tbe English novel, which seems to us as solid as Domesday Book, dates no further back than 1749 and “ Tom Jones.” Mr John Masefield achieved his first real foothold on the literary ladder with his novel, ‘ Captain Margaret ’ and his numerous poems written before that book appeared did not attract much interest. _ Since his laureateship, indeed, his chief output has been romance rather than poetry.

But there was nearly another novelist laureate. If Kipling had not written the ‘ Widow of .Windsor,? which offended King Edward Yll.’s sense of propriety, there is no doubt he would have been included in the select galaxy of English laureates, and Kipling's climb to literary fame was via fiction. Our public sample poetry only after the poet has won his spurs with a novel. “ LENT BY A new film comedy, made on a modest scale with a comparatively small-cast, will shortly be shown in the provinces, • and filmgoers may lc surprised at the extent to which public utility concerns in this country are encouraging the cinema industry by lending equipment and staff. The film, ‘ Oh, Mr Porter! is an exceptionally good piece of clowning by Will Hay as a station master at a remote halt in the country. Two .big railway concerns, rthe L.N.E. and the Southern, have made possible the production by lending engines and lengths of line, while even the famous Silver Link streamlined engine makes its debut as a movie star. The railway territory provided is not merely some quiet siding standing unused on a Sunday morning. An area of busy and obviously important crossings has been used to add essential realism. There is every reason to believe that the initiative shown by transport undertakings in making use of the cinema—initiative shown long ago in the United States —is jpenetrating e\ v en to Government departments. In the past few months the three armed services have lent men and machines to ELstree and Denham. We seem at last to he getting away from the fearful West End bottle-party setting that used .to be the hallmark of the British, film.