RISE OF MOSELEY

Hawera Star, Volume L, 25 October 1930, Page 16

RISE OF MOSELEY

jgHORTLY after the House of Commons rose I met one of its most distinguished officers, who frequently •presides over its debates, and asked him what appeared to him .to bo the outstanding! featuro of the se-ssioin, writes the city ee.rrespondcnt of the “Daily Mail.” He placed them in this order and description: The constant and futile bickering between Mr. Snowden and Mr. (Lloyd George, which wasted a tremendous amount of Parliamentary time without useful rsult; the steady ability of Mr. Graham in piloting through the House the Coal Mines Act; the tremendous personal success ictf .Sir .Oswald Mosley; the rapid decline of Mr. Snowden’s prestige.

He added that, in his opinion tne most brilliant speech of the session- was Mir. Church ill l ’s- com.-tiributilon to the Third Heading debate on the Finance Hill; and that the most polished obstructionist in the House was Captain Henry Crookshan-k, the Conservative member for Gainsborough. it was difficult- to recall a Parliamensesison which ha,m been so unproductive of personal reputations as the one just ended. The House of Commons is an. old house and grows older, and if there are young men t here who dream dreams, very few of them have the courage to relate their visions.

As m-y friend mentioned, the one outstanding case of an advanced, prestige is Sir Oswald Mosley, who has provided us with a very rare example of a man who; has steadily advanced in importance since retiring from Ministerial office. Generally they resign and are forgotten, but Sir Oswald has proved himself more and more a. force to be reckoned with.

Ex-Minister is a Force

There are those in that- party who wore talking when Parliament rose of the need, for his rapid promotion to the post of Chancellor of t-h -cExehcqucr, but they were in too much of a hurry. Mr. \V. Graham, the president of the Board of Trade, will succeed Air. Snowden if n, change is made in that office during the lifetime of ithe present Govern merit.

Among the Socialist back-benchers who have attracted notice are Mr. An our in Sevan (Ebb-.v Yale), for his original and fearless views on the unemployment problem, Mr. Oliver Baldwin, who secured a reputation with one speech •la.stng five minutes on the question of capital punishment, and Air. W. J. Brown (Wolvei’hampt'ou), who, whatever may be brought to his extreme views, as a member of the- Independent Labour Party, does .not lack courage, straight for ward,ness, or a sense of Parliament, and seems to be indicated as the eventual successor to Air. Maxton ns .the leader .of that group.

The Conservatives as a whole have ' impressed, an, onlooker with, an idea that they are lazy. Few of them have . taken advantages of the opportunities | of opi.osi.tion, but there are three ex- ! (•options, to .this criticism on the front j bench: Sir P. Cuncliffo Lister, whose | speeches have been surprisingly and | consistently good; Captain Walter R|liot. who lias shown himself capable of brilliant oratorical performances, and ►Sir Kingsley Woods, who is- by far the. most dangerous foe that the Government has to meet at question time. | The. women members have been collectively and singly a complete disappointment.