LONDON GOSSIP

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23946, 23 October 1939, Page 9

LONDON GOSSIP

TROOPS’ NEW SONG “ TIPPERARY ” STILL POPULAR AN EMBARRASSED AMBASSADOR (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, Sept. 22. "Hanging Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line ” is promised as a successor to “ Tipperary ’’ and other Great War songs. It has been popular with the British troops on the way to the Western Front and also at concerts for the soldiers. It has caused amusement wherever it has been sung. The chorus is:— We’re going to hang our washing on the Siegfried Line; Have you any dirty washing, mother dear? Because the washing day is here. Whether the weather is wet or fine, We’ll just rub along, no fear. Yes, we*ll hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line. If the Siegfried Line’s still there. So far, however, the war has not called forth any songs that have a comparable place to “Tipperary.” Together with other old favourites, including “ Pack Up Your Troubles,” it is being sung by the sons of the men who marched to the tune in 1914-18. In France “ Boomps a Daisy ” is said to be very popular with the poilu. Rise in Prices One of the direct results of the war to be felt in England is a rise m prices. Although complaints have been made about profiteering, and in spite of the Government’s warning that the addition of even 6 per cent, to the prices of manufactured articles is “ an unjustifiable form of profiteering,” many increases have been reported. So far the highest increase is said to have been in carpets. As much as 60 per cent, has been added. Cheap electric fires have also gone up 35 per cent., furniture from 20 to 25 per cent, hoisery 24 per cent., and rubber boots and paint by 15 per cent. As a result, the Board of Trade has received many complaints from disgruntled retail shopkeepers who say that manufacturers are charging exorbitant prices to cover war risk insurance and other matters. The complaints are being investigated, and legislation may be introduced, if it is considered desirable. Traders’ organisations have been asked to report cases of over-charging. Housewives have been adyised that maximum retail prices of various foodstuffs have been fixed by the Ministry of Food, and that they should refuse to pay more. Retail traders have been urged to restrict their own charges and to take a firm stand against unjustified increases of prices by manufacturers. The Russian Ambassador The Russian entry into Poland and the consequent further cooling of relations between London and Moscow has placed M. Maisky, the Russian Ambassador, in an awkward position, to say the least. Since he arrived in London in 1932 he has done everything possible to create good relations between his country and Britain. When he first went to the Embassy it was almost cut off from the rest of London, and except for a few Communists, very few people called. M. Maisky changed all that. He put his staff into tails and white ties, and the word went round that the champagne and caviare were excellent. First a thin trickle of Left Wing intellectuals and Socialist leaders attended his receptions, but gradually the type of guest usually to be found at diplomatic receptions put in an appearance. All the time M. Maisky, smiling genially. stressed to his guests the fact that Soviet Russia was just another great big democracy. When, last March, Mr Chamberlain himself appeared at an Embassy reception, it looked as if success would crown M. Maisky’s efforts; it seemed even more likely when the British Military Missioiy went to Moscow. Now the position is vastly altered. M. Maisky frequently listens to debates in the House of Commons, where he is known for his poker face qualities. These, however, were not sufficient for him this week when the Prime Minister, in his third report on the war, referred to the Russian question. M.P.’s looked in M, Maisky’s direction, but the Russian Ambassador laid his arms on the rail in front of him. He hid his head, and did not move until Mr Chamberlain turned to other matters. A New High Commissioner Events in South Africa have resulted in a new High Commissioner arriving in London. Mr C. T. Te Water, who resigned the post following the fall of the Hertzog Government, left for Capetown, and Mr S. F. Waterson replaces him.

Mr Te Water had occupied the position for a number of years, and he was one of the many new friends made by the New Zealand High Commissioner, Mr W. J. Jordan, on his arrival from the Dominion. Mr Jordan has often referred to Mr Te Water in public as “ my very good friend.” When he left for Capetown this week Mr Te Water said: “ I shall carry with me to South Africa a picture of a whole people absolutely united at the moment of their country’s peril. That is Great Britain’s greatest strength.” Mr Waterson, the new High Commissioner, a Smuts man. was a member of the South African Parliament for 10 years, and seemed headed for high office at home when he was sent last January to Paris as Minister. Until his departure for Europe he had found time to direct the activities of his firm of wine dealers. Those who know him predict that he will be a popular High Commissioner. He is a good mixer. Many British naval officers have enjoyed the hospitality of Mr Waterson and his wife at their former home—a delightful country house near the Simonstown naval base at Capetown. Successor to Signor Grand! A new arrival shortly at St. James’s Palace will be Signor Giuseppe Bastianini, the Italian Ambassador, who is succeeding Signor Grand!. The selection has been well received, and The Times declares it to be “a high compliment to this country.” The new Ambassador has seen and done much in his 40 years. After serving in the last stages of the war and taking part in the march on Rome, he became .first vice-secretary of the Fascist Party, then Deputy, then Under-secretary of State for National Economy. During the last 12 years he has had abundant diplomatic experience as Italian Minister at Tangier, Lisbon and Athens, and latterly in Poland, where he was a popular and successful Ambassador for four years, a circumstance that adds interest and perhaps significance to his new appointment. Since 1936 he has been Under-secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and is therefore fully conversant with the mainsprings of Italian policy.