LONDON TOPICS

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4330, 7 September 1937, Page 7

LONDON TOPICS

PASSAGE OF MARRIAGE BILL ABSURD U BOAT RUMOUR July 29. Even old Parliamentarians have difficulty in recalling an instance where a private M.P. has had such well-earned success as had Mr A. P. Herbert in securing the passage of his Mainage Bill. Admittedly the reform has been widely demanded from all parts of the country, but the opposition, based as it was upon religious scruples, was determined and relentless. It is very much to be doubted whether any ouhei man in the House could have succeeded in the task that Mr Herbert set himself, and much of his good fortune is to be set down to his great personal charm and readiness to appreciate and conciliate the other man s point ot view. Another hero of the M&riiase Bill—it will become law under the title of Matrimonial Causes Act—is, however Mr de la Bere, who won a place in the ballot and therefore sponsored Mr Herbert’s Bill. Evesham, ms constituency, is inclined to be a bit parochial in its outlook on life, and Mr de la Bere has himself acknowledged that the silent part of foster parent that he has played to this measure ot divorce law reform may cost firm dear in votes at the next General Election. London these days is as full or rumours and as ready to accept and exacrcrerate them as it was in the autumn of 1914. It was a good thing, therefore, that the First Lord of the Admiralty was able to give prompt and satisfactory denial to the German U-boat canard. It does not much matter what was the original version of this “ tall story.” It spread by word of mouth with amazing rapidity, exhibiting chamelon changes of colouring in regard to its details. By the time Parliament was due to meet it had reached Westminster in a great diversity of forms, one of which, told seriously to me, was that the submarine had been detected basking at the bottom of Portsmouth Harbour, and had been brought to the surface by the dropping of a small depth charge in her vicinity. All that actually happened, as explained by T Mr Duff Cooper, was that a German U-boat was passing down the Channel pn the surface and outside our three-mile limit, at a time when a British destroyer and submarine were exercising. The House, of course, laughed when it heard the facts, but many members a few moments earlier had been ready enough to believe the more fantastic versions. But it is not M.P.s alone who are so prone to be gulled by any rumour of sinister portent. It is a weakness widely shared by the general public, and does little credit to our matter-of-fact reputation. “THE ROCK” IMPREGNABLE AS EVER. There is a great deal too much scareraongering going on about this “ guns over Gibraltar ” business. Such nervousness, as it must appear to foreigners. is not in accord with our national reputation for imperturbability and “ phlegm ” That the rumours first brought to this country by Mr Randolph Churchill should have been taken up so seriously by Mr Winston Churchill and Mr Lloyd George showed how far these elder statesmen have lost touch with the services and the Intelligence Department. Lord Cranborne’s reply, with his absolute assurance that Franco’s guns, whatever their calibre, “ constitute no menace to Gibraltar,” should have put an end to the alarms. Apparently it has not done so, and his statement is being criticised as indefinite and lacking in frankness. What more could have been expected from him it is difficult to imagine. The Government cannot disclose • to the House of Commons all the knowledge it possesses without giving away secrets about the strength of our own fortifications at Gibraltar. All that the public needs to know is that, to the best belief of our experts, “The Rock” remains as impregnable to-day as ever. That assurance was given by Lord Cranborne in a statement which was obviously carefully prepared and authorised by the Government as a whole. It is only a small minority of “ jumpy ” and sensation-loving Britons who will continue to feel misgivings about the position. LESSONS FROM SPAIN. Continental military experts attach considerable importance to deductions drawn by their observers from the fighting in Spain. As I have already pointed out, the comparative failure of tanks in Spain, wherever they have encountered adequate anti-tank defences, has influenced the German army chiefs to call at least a partial halt to mechanisation. Another important lesson to be inferred from Spanish evidence is the grossly exaggerated effect that lias been in some quarters attributed to aerial bombardment of large cities. Gunfire has proved not on 1 y far more intimidating to popular nerves, but also much more effective. Nobody who saw Ypres, even in 1915, would doubt this for one moment. Perhaps the most interesting lesson of all, however, is the difficulty even the most expert airmen, in really up-to-date machines, find in hitting a in’ target smaller in extent than about 600 yds, and even then when flying low. In Spain, however, not a solitary plane has yet been brought down by anti-aircraft fire. TO HELP THE ARMY. An Army League is being formed on the lines of the Navy League in an endeavour to solve our recruiting problem. Mr Amery is chairman of an influential committee that includes the names of Lord Iliffe, Lord Lloyd, Lord Milne, Sir Philip Chetwode, and Mr Victor Cazalet. The present position is that the Regular Army, with greatly increased responsibilities, is 112,000 below 1914 strength, including 1,000 officers, and the Territorial Army is 50,000, including over 8,000 officers, under establishment and 100,000 below its 1914 strength. To meet this position the Army League’s proposals include for the Regulars enlistment with the colours for two or three years with nine years in the reserve, those joining for less than three years to be for home service only. They also propose an option of longer terms of service with pension and various improvements in conditions, pay, and training for civilian life with Army status and pat r . For the Territorial Army they advocate modern equipment, adequate drill halls, and better official recogni-

tion of status. The aims of the Army League are admirable, but experts will differ as to some of their proposals. “WAR” UMPIRES AT LOGGERHEADS. We shall never know which side won in the recent intensive war between Redland and Blueland. The operations were intended to combine the three fighting services in realistic fashion, also to afford the Portsmouth area, which was the centre of attack, a chance to experience air raid conditions. The authorities gained useful hints as to the success and failure of the civilian black-out. But which side was successful in the scrapping, owing to inevitable service amour propre, the umpires are quite unable to agree. Within 20 minutes of “ Go ” Redland air scouts had spotted Blueland fleet, and the aircraft carrier Courageous was heavily bombed. To have admitted her as a casualty would have ruined the whole show at the outset, like killing off Hamlet in the first scene of Act I. The airmen on both sides are convinced they did tremendous damage. Equally are the rival A-A. gunners sure, of course, that they fairly peppered the bombers. PLANE v. SHIP. No light whatever is thrown mi the eternal plane v. ship controversy. Nor can anything like finality be reached in judgment, even by the most impartial experts, until the test is made with real bombs and live shell. That is, of course, an utter impossibility. If the bombers drop flour-bag bombs, but are able to do so without being disturbed by real anti-aircraft fu - e, the results count for little. Far More instructive lessons have been deduced by the German and other expert observers of the operations in Spain. I met to-day, however, a R.A.F. bomber who did not accept the popular air expert theory that a bomb bursting anywhere within 200 yds of a battleship would sink her by concussion loosening her rivets. He countered that proposition by asking why in that case a torepdo did not have equally far-reaching effects. That struck me as being a bull point scored for the Navy by the R.A.F. The Navy of course, is quite sure it now has the measure of the air attack. FICKLE LOYALTIES. The president of the T.U.C., Mr Ernest Bevin, is experiencing the fate of many other even bigger historical figures. From being one of the most popular as well as ablest of trade union leaders, he suddenly finds himself, with the Left Wing extremists, almost as anathema as Mr J. H. Thomas was with much the same section. All this because of his attitude over the London bus strike and the subsequent disciplining of Communist agitators who were ruining the trade union cause. When assailed for this “ betrayal ” at a recent meeting, Mr Bevin declared he had never cared whether he was popular or unpopular, adding: “ I have been more often right when I was unpopular!” That saying may not fit in with the fullblooded theory of democracy, and conflicts with the vox populi vox Dei axiom rather severely. But how many attentive students of affairs would dispute its truth? Mr Bevin has put his finger on the crucial distinction between real leadership and sheer demagogy. It is a point that all political parties in democratic countries might profitably ponder. OUR PLEDGE TO THE ARABS. A crucial point in the Palestine dispute is the M‘Mahon Pledge. It was on the strength of this that Lawrence of Arabia secured the Arab aid which enabled Allenby to defeat the Turks. Sir Henry M'Mahon, Wingate’s predecessor as High Commissioner in Egypt during the war, now states emphatically that he never intended, and King Hussein never understood, the promised areas of Arab independence to include Palestine. But Colonel Lawrence of Arabia’s ‘ Seven Pillars ’ has an important bearing on this. He realised almost from the first that “ the Arab revolt had begun on false pretences.” A modest phrase in our offer concealed a treaty, kept secret till too late from M'Mahon and the Sherif, by which France, England, and Russia agreed “ to annex some of thesepromised areas and to establish their respective spheres of influence over all the rest.” The suggestion made by Lawrence is that the soldiers on the spot were double-crossed by the politicians at home. Lawrence does not conceal his feelings in this matter. “ Not being a perfect fool, I could see that, if we won the war, the promises to the Arabs were dead paper. Had I been an honourable advisor I would have sent my men home, and not let them risk their lives for such stuff. Yet the Arab insurrection was our main tool in winning the Eastern War. So I assured them that England kept her word in letter and spirit. In this comfort they performed their fine things, but, of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed.” These are very unpalatable words for us to remember now, but it seems only right and fair that what Lawrence thought and wrote should be quoted. Admittedly Lawrence’s spirit was that of a chivalrous crusading paladin, and his mentality and outlook far removed from the scheming machinations of puny politicians. But it is an impressive coincidence, in view of what is now happening, that throughout his book he never ceases to deplore the role that chicanery at home had forced upon him. G.B.S. Mr Bernard Shaw spent his eightyfifth birthday in a thoroughly congenial manner at the Malvern Festival. Most men seem to shrink a little physically as they soar past the Psalmist’s allotted span, but G.B.S. is an exception. In his favourite Norfolk suit, with sandals, his patriarchal beard sweeping his chest, the super, man towers above most of the company at any function. His keen but kindly grey-blue eyes soften the rather frightening asperities 'of Mephistolphelian eyebrows, and even the youngest actresses find his boundless joie de vivre and amusing conversational paradoxes a constant delight and entertainment. Time has completely failed to quell the Shavian rebel instinct, though it has, I think, vastly modified some of Mr Shaw’s more youthful theories. His greatest asset, however, is his inability to take a conventional view of anything. His mind, as plastic and supple now as ever it was, brings a perfectly unprejudiced outlook to any question and every personality. He has not allowed himself to become rutted even in the Marxian cart tracks. His wagon

| still remains hitched to a will-o’-the-wisp star. FIGHTING BISHOP DEAD. Dr Edwards, who has died in his eighty-ninth year, was a strong personality. Son of a vicar of Llangollen, the captain of boats at Jesus College, Oxford, he became first the youngest head master and then the youngest bishop in the kingdom. His vigorous platform agitation against Welsh disestablishment earned him the name of “ the fighting bishop,” but later he showed equal diplomacy when, reconciled to his arch-enemy, L.G., he became first archbishop of the liberated Welsh church. From that office, which he held for 14 years, he retired three years ago. He was married three times, and had four sons and two daughters. His eldest son was severely wounded in the Somme fighting, his second son, an 0.8. E. colonel, died in 1920, and the youngest was killed at Festubert. I once had to interview him in the lobby at Westminster when he was “ the fighting bishop,” and he austerely inquired how I had come by a rather conspicuous black eye. But his sternness vanished, and 1 he patted me approvingly on the back, when he learnt that the disfiguration was not the result of debauchery but of a fair and square glove contest. Dr Edwards stood for the church militant 1 FIRE SKYSCRAPER. London’s huge new Fire Brigade headquarters at Lambeth, opened by the King and Queen, are the biggest in the world. They cover nearly three acres, are 10 stories high, and cost £390,000. But they cannot described as beautiful to look upon. There is a drill hall for weekly rehearsals, with a hundred-foot tower, and balconies to which the public will be admitted. Officers have suites of rooms, firemen bedsettees, and a corked wall is provided for dart champions. Amidst elaborate up-to-date gadgets, the old polished poles are still retained as the quickest way the firemen can swarm down to man a turn-out. In 1935 the brigade’s personnel of over 2,000 men answered nearly 10,000 calls, of which over 3.001 were false alarms, and 1,271 maliciously so. That year London’s fire losses totalled over a million sterling, more than twice the previous year’s total Ninety-three lives were lost and 66-1 people injured. London’s fire insurance, which in 1889 was 400 millions, is now well over 2,000 millions. Alarms average 26 daily, but over 100 on Guy Fawkes Day. Mechanisation has given more efficiency, but robbed the turnout of its old horse-day drama. FAMOUS CRICKETER. Perhaps because so many of them travel from county match to county match by road, the death roll of famous cricketers m motor smashes k steadily mounting upwards. The new Transport Minister may find food for reflection m the fact that within a few hours of each other two more well-known cricket professionals, incidentally both fast bowlers, have been involved in our road toll. Though Harold Larwood, the England and Notts bowler, has been merely injured, E. A. M'Donald, the Australian fast bowler, who has been Lancashire’s star performer, was killed outright. M'Donald was a typical goodlooking, lithe-limbed Aussie, a fine allround player, but a terror to most batsmen as an express bowler. He and Gregory mowed down the wickets of English" test teams at a time when these included some illustrious batting names. Of the two, though Gregory was the more spectacular, M'Donald, with his beautifully graceful delivery, was decidedly the more deadly. His Lancashire county cricket was sandwiched between periods of Lancashire league engagements. DISGRUNTLED. America’s Ryder Cup golfers, now back home in God’s own country', have made serious charges against our sportsmanship. They complain that not only was the attitude of the spectators ou the course hostile to them, but that rude comments were made audibly, and in some cases a ball was interfered with to their detriment. Friends who were at all the big golf meetings assure me there is not the slightest ground for these criticisms so far as unsporting partiality is concerned. Comments on American players who made poor strokes' were no more caustic and no louder than those on similar play by our own men, and if there was any interference with the ball it was purely accidental. There is a case on record where such accidental interference gave an American the hole. That the crowds were sometimes too big and close, and not adequately shepherded, is true enough, but this was just as disconcerting for our men as the Americans. It is rather significant that this outburst of criticism should come from the American golfing cracks just after failure to repeat their former triumphs in the open. DRAMA WITHOUT LIPSTICK. It s a long time ago since it was announced that Daly’s Theatre in Leicester Square was closing down to turn itself into a cinema. Play after play has been produced there since the theatre’s doom was announced, and it will shortly’ stage 1 The First Legion.’ In spite of its title, this remarkable play 7 has nothing to do with the Great War of Julius Caesar. The chief character is a Jesuit novice, and the other characters consist of a doctor and a number of priests. Though the religious element is stressed throughout by organ obbligatos and choir singing, there is no religious propaganda in the play, which has had long runs in America and on the continent of Europe. A curious feature is that there is no woman in the cast. The last example of this in London was ‘ Journey’s End,' the outstanding success of which was thereby in no way prejudiced. There have been, however, several plays with an all-woman cast, though one cannot remember any of these achieving great success MEMORABLE TENNIS. Old hands at Wimbledon agree that the match between Budge and von Cramm, which gave America the right to meet Great Britain for the Davis Cup in the challenge round, was the greatest ever played in the history of modern tennis. When the Americans won the doubles it seemed almost a certainty that they 7 would defeat Germany. As it turned out, everything depended on the result of the gamine between Budge and von Cramm. There was a rumour that the American had sprained his shoulder, but it soon proved that there was no truth in this. But when the German won the first two sets and got to 4-1 in the third

set, America’s chances seemed to have faded out. Only by a terrific effort did Budge manage to draw level in the next two sots, and there was a desperate struggle for the deciding one. It was wonder tennis. I have never seen a tennis crowd so deliriously excited. Finally the American won, but far more' by force majeur than by stroke artistry, at which the gallant von Gramm is decidedly his master. What really beat the German was Anno Domini.