BRITISH CABINET RESHUFFLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23669, 29 November 1938, Page 18

BRITISH CABINET RESHUFFLE

BRILLIANT SCOT INCLUDED SIR JOHN ANDERSON'S CAREER ARISTOCRATS' IMPORTANT POSTS (From Our Own Correspondent) 9 (By Air Mail) LONDON, Nov. 3. The inclusion in the British Cabinet of a Scot with a brilliant record provides the most interesting of the latest reshuffle, caused by the resignations of Mr Duff Cooper (First Lord of the Admiralty) and Lord Hailsham (Lord President of the Council), and the death of Lord Stanley (Dominions Secretary). Sir John Anderson, tn<; new Lord Privy Seal and Minister of Civilian Defence, at 56, is referred to affectionately as the Edinburgh Wonder, and a " lad of many pairts." Since he entered the civil service in 1905 he has held more posts than any other man. He played a big part behind the scenes in the settlement of the Irish troubles in 1920-21. but it was when he went out to Bengal as Governor in 1932 that he came into the public eye. During his five years' Governorship he earned the invidious title, " most-shot-at man in the world," by escaping the bullets of assassins on three occasions. Sir John was not deflected from his duty. He put down terrorism in Bengal, and earned the name of the " Iron Man" of Bengal. Within three months of his return to Britain. last December, Sir John had been appointed to four important posts. He had become a member of the Privy Council, he had joined the board of Vickers, Ltd., and the Midland Bank, and he had been elected National Government M.P. for the Scottish Universities. Then he was made chairman of the committee which considered plans for the evacuation of London's civilians in time of war. TURNED DOWN IMPERIAL AIRWAYS Since May he has been appointed i director of Imperial Chemicals and has refused the chairmanship of Imperial Airways. During the crisis Sir John played a big part in A.R.P. He installed himself in a room at Scotland Yard, and it was from that room that the orders came forth for trench digging, sandbagging, evacuating school children, and the distributing of gas masks. .

Sir John now has a double appointment in the Cabinet. He is Minister-in-Charge of A.R.P. and of the National Service voluntary register. He has, of course, resigned his city directorships. His appointment, generally speaking, has met with wide approval, for if. as The Times pointed out, " he is not in his first youth," he is well used to public administration, and his record is one of amazing success. It is said of him that he has a slow Scottish voice, but a quick wit; a liking for cigars, mahogany furniture, and billiards, but a low opinion of women in politics. The story goes that he was once the object of a friendly fued conducted by Lady Astor. When Secretary to the Home Office, Lady Astor always blametl him for the opposition to certain feminist claims. The demand for more women police was one of the most important of these. Lady Astor seldom met Sir John at a social gathering without chiding him on these matters. He never denied the charges, and, in fact, rather enjoyed Lady Astor's good-natured remonstances. One of the few occasions on which his great Scots dignity unbent was to tease Lady Astor on her "amazons." ARMY RULES THE NAVY! Lord Stanhope's elevation from Minister of Education to First Lord of the Admiralty means that the navy will continue to be ruled by a Grenadier Guards' officer. Like Mr Duff Cooper, the new First Lord served with.that regiment and won a D.S.O. In the war. Lord Stanhope's connection with the Grenadier Guards is older, since he was with the regiment in the South African War. In Parliament it is thought that there may be criticism of the appointment. It may be pointed out that for 27 of the last 30 years the First Lord of the Admiralty has been a member of the House of Commons. At the Admiralty, however, it is unlikely that there will be criticism. Lord Stanhope, when for five years he was Civil Lord of the Admiralty in the second Baldwin Conservative Government, made an excellent impression on the admirals. They saw more of him in 1931, when he became financial secretary to the Admiralty for a few months. Those few months covered the incidents at Invergordon. ' Lord Stanhope supports conscription warmly—as long ago as [1933 he said, "Why do not employers encourage, or I might almost say, drive, their workmen into the Territorial Army? " Lord de" la Warr, the new president of the Board of Education, who, at 38, is 20 years younger than Lord Stanhope, was Lord Privy Seal.- It was not generally expected that he would be placed in charge of the board, and the promotion means that he will be at the head of a. department for the first time since his inclusion in the Cabinet. . . As with many men of position, Lord de la Warr's soul is torn between the claims of national service and his love of the countryside. He has a beautifUi. place at Bexhill and, like Mr Lloyd George, is a successful farmer. He has good humour, a good political brain, and a happy home life. Not long ago he went to Australia—an experience that will be valuable when Empire affairs are discussed. A CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

A somewhat blunt critic has said of Lord De La Warr that he is a " harmless, young-looking, good-looking, rather weak-looking man." As a matter of fact, he is not afraid to express unorthodox opinions. During the war he was a conscientious objector; to show he was no shirker, he served on a minesweeper. During the recent crisis he was among what was termed " the restive group" of the Cabinet, who were inclined to disagree with Mr .NeviHe Chamberlain. Mr Malcolm MacDonald will be welcomed back to the Dominions Office by the many friends he won when he held that position before. The dual appointment, especially at a time when the Palestine question is such a thorny problem, is another feather in this young man's cap, and is a further indication of the bright future before him. Lord Runciman's re-entry to the Cabinet (he was previously president of the Board of Trade) will mean a valuable addition to the Government in the sphere of foreign affair.; as well as that of supply for defensive armaments.

By the re-shuffle, the number of the Cabinet Ministers is reduced from 22 to 21, and the average age is lowered a few points to 54.6, one of the youngest Cabinets of modern times. Previously, there were eight old Etonians with Cabinet rank, but with the lo,ss of Lord Hailsham, Mr Duff Cooper, and the late Lord Stanley, there remain five. Lord Runciman was educated privatelv, but Sir John Anderson, who was at Watson's, puts that famous Scottish day school on the same level as Harrow and Clifton, with two representatives each. Sir John's fellowWafconian in the Cabinet is Mr W. S. Morrison. Since 1914 this school has provided more Ministers than any other school, except Eton. They are the two largest boys' schools in Britain. Sir John is also a Ph.D. of Leipzig. CABINET'S ARISTOCRATS

The changes have made little difference to the aristocratic strength of the Cabinet. There are still six peers, for Lord Runciman cancels out the loss of Lord Hailsham. Nearly half of the Cabinet are either lords, sons of lords, or married to lords' daughters. The aristocrats with Ministerial rank are led by the Marquis of Zetland, Secretary of State for India. Then come two earls. Earl Stanhope and Earl De La Warr. The viscounts follow—Viscount Runciman and Viscount Halifax (Foreign Minister). Then there are Lord Maugham, Lord Chancellor, and Lord Winterton, Chancellor of the

Duchy of Lancaster. The Hon. Oliver Stanley is son of the Earl of Derby, and President of the Board of Trade. Sir Samuel Hoare, Home Secretary, married Lady Maud Lygon, daughter of the sixth Earl of Beauchamp. Sir Thomas Inskip, Co-ordination Minister, married Lady Augusta Boyle, daughter of the seventh Earl oi gow. There are also many titles among the junior Ministerial appointments. The Duke of Devonshire is Under-Sec-retary of State for the Dominions, iha Marquis of Dufferin and Ava is UnderSecretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal is Under-Secretary for War, and the Earl of Feversham is Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture. Sir Victor Warrender. Financial Sjcretary to the War Office, is grandson ot the eighth Earl of Shaftesbury. Sir Philip Sassoon, First Commissioner of Works, is grandson of Baron Gustava de Rothschild.

Mr Lennox-Boyd, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour. ;s descended from the eighth Lord Napier of Merchis+on. The Hon. James Stuart, Lord Commissioner, is son of the seventeenth Earl of Moray. Major J. A. Herbert, Assistant Whip, married the daughter of the sixth Earl of 11chester. Among the paliamentary private secretaries there are Lord Birkenhead. Lord Dunglass, and Mr Charlei Wood, son of Lord Halifax and son-in-law of Lord Derby.