A LETTER FROM LONDON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 28 June 1926, Page 8

A LETTER FROM LONDON

NEWS AND VIEWS ON VARIED TOPICS

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

r i'RntT'R''; CHALLENGE But. for the nonce it is stronger than LABOLih o R(anisav Macdonald, stronger than J rat-Thomas, stronger indeed than * ’•' ■ J&ijDON. May 6. the-Labour-leaders in Parliament The evil days that everyone has b?en fearing for months. fallen at-j

THE 1914 TOUCH

lasi. And as-usual ' tlier mlity is not:! quite so* bad ns the d I'm 111 drO:, national ‘.'hold-up'’ which Labour; is atr tempting, is' tbiidwvvedcd tempt at revolution no-one lias suffered

As the London buses ramble past Hyde Park all the cx-serviro conductors make the same comment. “Cheerio, 'Rill,’’ is I lie salutation to their mates,

anv great hardship:.hpi to-, the. prcsc.nt. It is revolution with the gloves nil. Perhaps before'the struggle is over the gloves will- bo taken off. hard blows will be dealt apd: blood will bo spilt; That is as. the Gods may ordain: At the moment London .is being, subjected tp. grave imaMlvOuienOe. ’ but.! does not suffer serious, travail. -.'. Yet: there;are.-clearv

“Lboks like old times, what? Same as August, 1914” 1 Through the closed iron gates of the Park one sees empl v vistas of perfect green lawns and mag nificent flower beds ablaze with glorv. But right along the road running parallel'; with Rotten Row, from Hyde Park ■Corner down to past Knightsbridgn Baracks ,are lines of parked motor lor vies. The desertion of the place, usual-

evidences iJiat. the hands.of Moscow are directing, if alb Glib hears strange stories of lidw on tlw •nb'gdt.mtuwiß for a settlement, rnmc the breakdown.at;.the; beginning of the week. Labour leadenT, of the orthodox tyse, tell, you almost pathetically that. Labour as at present constituted - would: liavo ceased to exist as a political party if it. had not.backed up the miners. Qertain it is that men like Ramsay Macdonald, Phi-, Clip Snowdfen-.and ,T. U. Thomas did-

ly, alive fashion, and the contrast '.between the quiet peace of the flower* and, grass and the vital potentiality of the long lean lines of waggons. ore sinister. It smells of trouble. In charge of the parked lorries are brisk bronzed men, who for all their rnufti, seem to wear the crown of the Q3I.S. nil their sleeves ij

THE LIMIT

their utmost to prevent the crash from • coming. On. Monday night it looked .a** if a settleitient was certain. Them had. been a midnight conclave between the loaders of the Labour Partv and lead-, ing' members of the; Cabinet. They., came to terms. But before those terms could be ratified they had to be submitted to some force outside. And that force, scarcely deigning to ; examine the proposal sbpka an emphatic “No.” Nu--one seems ; to know what, this force is,

There was one significant little incident' in the Labour demonstration in Hyde Park which I,have not. seen mentioned in any quarter. There vrtsro_f.hr? usual speeches directed against capitalism and some real angry references to the “blackshirts”, whose rather provocatives demonstrations in the streets have proved helpful neither to their cause nor to the polico entrusted with ■ the duty of maintaining order. These

diatribes against capitalism went down well with what was essentially Socialist. Rut. opt? woman orator began to attack iho King and members of the Royal laniilv. She was greeted at. once with a, volley of groans and hisses, mid when she. refused to desist, she was ignominious])- dragged down from her platform and was promptly swallowed up by the crowd.

FAMINE IN CAMP RUHR One of tho first signs of tlm impending trouble was a. famine in camp beds. Some firms which attempted to buy.or hire some in order to bo able- to sleep members of the staff on the premises in the event of their being unable to •get borne found that, none could be prorural on any terms. Colleagues who own motor-ears find themselves in the enjoyment of a, new and sudden popularity. During tho railway strike ol sonic years ago emergency transport was organised by the larger offices and witliiii a dav or two all serious difficulty was eliminated. Another eltccf of the trouble lias been a great demand for push bicycles. In one of the stations yesterday 1 saw a largo stack of them on the wav to retailers who foresaw a sudden widening of the market.

THE PREMIER’S PART

It was perhaps as well for Mr Baldwin that his tentative, offer to postpone the coal struggle by a week or two was not accepted. It it had been accompanied/ as presumably it would, by a continuation of the subsidy, ho would have had to face a serious revolt among his own followers. Nothing short of a firm assurance of peace would have induced them to consent. As itis, the Prime Minister, by the admission j of all parties, has made a gallant struggle for success, and the most ill-natured critic cannot- accuse him of personal re- | sponsibility. Indeed, but for the per- ‘ sonal position he- has .established, ho could not have induced tho owners to go so far as they did, nor the leaders

of tho Trades Congress Committee to support his effort so heartily. Ho -was himself almost, in tears when tho negotiations broke down.

THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER

Sir William Mitchell Thomson, wl»> has been nominated as Chief Civi; Commissioner now that tho iMuorgcnev Powers Act. lias been put into force has held four' Parliamentary seats,' two m tho West of Scotland, which lie found unsafe, one in Northern Ireland, which was uncongenial, and now he is in tho comparative security of South Croydon. He was called to the Scottish liar, but being the son of a wealthy Lord Provost of Edinburgh, was never under the necessity of practising. He had an experience of business in West India, where his father had large interests, and travelled widely. Sir William thus brought a good deal of experience to the Postmaster-Generalship, and bu has already signalised liis tenure by introducing the cash-on-delivery system. He was no doubt selected for- bis present duly by reason of the fact that he is at the head of the Government’s largest employing department-. lie is a tall, good-looking fellow, who plays a sound game of golf.

. MAC.’S DICTUM Mr Ramsay MacDonald has announced tliat he does not qualify anything lie has said in condemnation of a general strike. He will, therefore, not mind my recalling the expressive simile he used a good many years ago when ho compared it to tho attempt of a man to lift himself by the seat of bis own trousers. THE STATE SUBSIDY Asuming that the coal subsidy up to the end of April will have cost amout 24 millions—and it is'not likely to be less —it means that during tile nine months Hie community lias been paying every miner an average of over ten shillings a week above his economic wage. That is the state of things which, in the view

of the Miners’ Federation, nhonld have been continued. I find that many who were disposed to sympathise with the general position of the miners, though not, with their actual claims, have been, completely alienated by th©..action, in holding up the community.and: thereby, inflicting hardship, on those.; wli'ohave neither any interest*.in the .dispute nor. any means of, influencing the) decision. Tliis stoppage is almost unique* iuitrade disputes, for while the issue’is- general as to tho proportion in which, profits should bo distributed, it is. common ground that in this, ease there are uo profits to distribute.

RACK FROM! MOSCOW

Without, Captain Wedgwood.Renn the Budget, debate haa hardly been, like itself. He gave liis friends, to; understand lie would return to Westminster in time for it, but, finding himself at Constantinople, lie decided to continue liis journey to Moscow. He lias thus anticipated liis four Unionist colleagues who arc there now. Captain Benn *s now on liis way home, and expects to arrive about the end of next week. The view of.so keen-eyed ail observer on tile state of allairs in Russia should be interesting, and no doubt the Parliamentary question paper, will even bear evidence of his tour. He knows the Eastern Mediterranean well, having viewed a large part of it from bis aeroplane during the war, in which he had a distinguished record. Not. many men over 40. as lie was, showed so much intrepidity in tlie air.

THE LONG-AGO WAR

The war to most- of us seems: so recent that it is difficult to realise that if another war started to-morow more than 90 per cent of : the Regular Army would never have seen a shot fired. This morning I watched a battalion of the Scots Guards marching through the streets, and was surprised to find Hunt there, was no officer, with tile- exception of a. major, who had a war medal up. It was the same thing: in the ranks. Four after four marched past, every tunic free of medal ribbons, and I counted certainly half-a-dozen sergeants who had evidently seen no wav service. There was one private, however, who was evidently a real! soldier. His breast blazed with medal ribbons, symbols of campaigns in all parts of die world.

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF BETTING SITUATION

There are a number of people, who look oti credit betting as far more pernicious tliau cash deals, .lt.is urged thai«a, man thinks twice before he-puts liis hand in liis pockets, and hands over 59 sovereigns or a parcel of : bank, or Treasury notes, whereas it is so easy to say, “Oh, ves;, five fifties” oi\ “Five, potnes,’’ or “Eight tenners,” and awaityour luck on the inevitable, Monday settlement. It is. a.fact that, if everyone had, to pay cash before, betting), the. sum total 1 of betting transactions would, be enormously decreased Further, the social, element of society is too often traded, upon rather than its. financial stability.' A man belonging; Id a.'good, regiment or a- good club gets, credit as a matter of course, and that:, not- only from one credit bookmaker, bnt from a number if be so desires. His winnings and bis losses may well be large. If tlie latter, he is hard put td.it to pay, for tlicre. is always the suhtlo question jof “Debts of honour,” aud. thh awkward possibilities of orderly rooms, club committees, and not infrequently legal actions in, which he daro. nut plead. tfie .Gaining Act; the arguments, therefore, against credit- betting aro quite formidable.

THE ZOO’S-CENTENARY

This iveck marked tho 100th anniversary of the “Zoo,” which began in quiet .humble circumstances * when the. Zoological Society of London'.assembled.- and .decided to start their famous gardens, jit is a curiously typical coincidence that at first the few animals were housed in 33 Bruton Street, quit© close to where the Duchess of York gave birth to her little daughter, and when tho Society transferred them to the present Gardens, and admitted the public, there were fewer than 200 .animals, as compared with the- 5,191' which ar e housed there now. No less interesting is flie comparison of past and' present finances. £4,079 was their first year’s income. Last year tlio income was £122,840. Rather - fewer than 13,500 people Avere admitted to- the Society’s Gardens in 1829, the.first full year of the nublic’s attendance. Last year,1,825,613 persons passed through the turnstiles.

LONDON’S PIGEONS

The Medical, Officer of Health for the City of London lias, condemned the City, pigeons, which he says are becom- i mg too numerous to bo healthy, and lie wants the Corporation to obtain i powers to thin, them out. It is at pre- j sent a .statutory offence to hill a London pigeon, and in theory, every pigeon is, f «afe from a violent end. In practice this is not strictly so. In Westminster, for instance, although the keepers are not “permitted” to make war on the , ;pigeons, it is no great secret that' pigeon pie is a fairly, constant dish in : certain corporation liomos. The raids are made in the early morning, when traps are laid on the wet grass before the public is abroad. It is estimated that there are 4,000 pigeons in the City. Unless something is done this number will soon bo trebled

THINGS SARTORIAL

A West End; tailor tells me that the \ yseason, has been rather late in beginning, owing partly to ijie earjj'ics.s of Easter and still more to tlio cold and rainy weather of April. It i s only during a spell of brilliant sunshine that ; men realise bow shabby their garments • have become. Subject to a serious industrial. dislocation the prospects for he season are good; there is no sign that, the average man is disposed to stmt himself m clothes. It is interest, mg to find that m spite of the immense expansion of the ready-to-wear departments in the large stores, the good lai- r !" Jt .quiet hack street finds no falliim oil m his customers. He advertises little !’ ot at . a bat sons succeed fathers : m the order-books, and satisfied clients ■lie ino best canvassers.

DERBY SWEEPS

At all the big West End clubs the usual big Derby sweeps are now bein" organised. As nearly every member takes up at- least, one guinea ticket the lirst prize not. infrequently runs into four figures I* torn time to time them m-e hints of official interference with these annual lotteries, hut as they are admirably and cleanly run the threat is not, likely to mature. Indeed, very -substantial, sweeps are ru n inside most V;* Government:,, departments i n . Whitehall; A' rumo*£ even reaches, mo tiiat- they, are not unknown within the .saorech portals of' the Palace of West •minster itself, though, with admirable restraint M.P. s themselves keep off ho unclean things! I'fcar this cannot lie ascribed to any spccTnal virtuousliess. Tint it might boa, little embarrassing for an M.P. who, represented a Puritanical constituency to be hailed as tho winner. Ho would have to hand over his prize In local charities.