BRITAIN FACES TURMOIL OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27296, 24 January 1950, Page 4

BRITAIN FACES TURMOIL OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR ABOUT SIX WEEKS

LONDON DIARY

Resident Correspondent

LONDON, January 13.

So election day is February 23. At last the months of tiresome speculation are over and the prophets of E day are now sitting back smugly and saying, like successful tipsters after a race, “ I told you so.”

In a few days the active campaign will begin. For the next 40 days the British nation will experience the same turmoil that you in New Zealand went through two months ago. The issue is identical with that faced in the Dominion —Socialism versus free enterprise and freedom from controls —but with greater interests at stake the battle is likely to be more bitter. On all sides this election is being hailed as the most important of the century for the British nation, and, indeed, for America and many countries in Europe too. Britain’s influence on the Continent is still very powerful and she is still looked to for a lead.

Many British, Dominion, and foreign journalists who have travelled widely and talked with all classes in this country agree that Labour will win more seats that the Conservatives but not many more. The big and decisive question is what support the Liberals will gain. It is unlikely that they will win many seats for they have few dynamic figures and their policy to too similar to that of the Conservative Party to attract a major following. Nevertheless they will undoubtly take a lot of votes which would otherwise have gone to the Tories and for this reason are unpopular with them. It is possible that they will emerge with few seats but with the balance of power. Asked what he would do in such an eventuality, Mr Clement Davies, the Liberal leader, told a colleague recently: “ I cannot say now for of course the whole party would have to be consulted.” And then, with a twinkle: “We might even form a Government.” POLITICS ON TELEVISION?

brokers, and they, arguing that world demand must soon diminish and that the local quota will be increased, are selling 1,000,000 gallons per yea/- at inflated black market prices. The Whisky Association can refuse to replenish their stocks, but the black marketeers are laughing at such threats.

20,000 DESERTERS AT LARGE The recent court martial of an RAF corporal who deserted 24 years ago and has only now been brought to book focusses attention on the number of deserters from the British forces* who are still at large. The majority of them are living in Eire, but, although most of their addresses are known, they are quite safe unless they return to this country. Of the 20,000 deserters from the army, navy and air force, it is estimated that 10,500 are in Eire, with another 1000 in Italy, France and Belgium. The number remaining in Britain and slowly being traced is about 8000, including some women. The present rate of desertion is roughly 2000 a year. THE MOST DANGEROUS JOBS On a Holborn Circus building this morning steeplejacks swarmed up and along steel girders 150 feet above ground. Like the trapeze artists in the circus, they scorned safety nets, belts and ladders, relying for their foothold on bolts and rivets. Their occupation is rated by the insurance companies as the most dangerous of all everyday jobs. Next come demolition workers, window cleaners, steel erectors, stevedores, wood-working machinists and coal miners. Clerks are bottom of the list. Accident premiums for the first four occupations are 80 times as high as for clerks, while rates for wood workers, stevedores and miners are half as much. FROG RAMP w

One interesting question which has arisen is: Will the BBC grant time on television to politicians? The answer is likely to be in the negative. Television is a much more difficult and exacting medium than radio and it is felt that very few politicians would enhance their reputation with viewers, who, in any case do not number many more than 1,000,000. Whatever the decision, outdoor telecasts of meetings will be made as was done with the Bradford by-election.

BOXING AND SOCCER Of much more interest to viewers is whether fight promoters, the league soccer clubs, and the West End theatre will consent to having their attractions televised. In USA it has been found of recent months that television often stimulates interest and does not detract from the actual attendance. Mike Solomons, the boxing promoter, has already said he is willing to agree to television if the BBC will guarantee to take up any unsold seats. Soccer and theatre managers may also agree if suitable terms can be arranged. TOO MANY REPRIEVES?

In solemn assembly the rural council of Amersham, a village 24 miles from London, has been considering the plight of the frogs in the memorial pond. The bank was too slippery for the frogs to hop out and they were dying in numbers. At first it was decided to do nothing, but frog lovers protested so vehemently that another meeting was held and now the frogs are to be provided with a ramp of ornamental stepping stones.

The recent appearance of the Lord Chief Justice (Lord Goddard), the veteran 82-year-old Mr Justice Humphries and Mr Justice Byrne before the commission on capital punishment has provided a talking point round many firesides. While the Lord Chief Justice and Mr Justice Humphreys (who described himself as the “ Old Brute ”) are in agreement that too many reprieves for murder are granted by the Home Secretary, Mr Justice Byrne is not of the same mind. He is in /fayour of the tolerance at present exercised by the Home Secretary. The question of capital punishment has frequently been discussed by the full Council of Judges without full agreement being reached. They are agreed, however, that women should face hanging for capital crime and that 18 is not too young for the extreme penalty. OUTSTANDING DRAMATIST An outstanding young dramatist of the British theatre today is 38-year-, old Christopher Fry, who will establish a record this month by haying three plays running at the same time in London. A fourth, his immensely popular verse play of Elizabethan times, “ The Lady’s Not for Burning,” comes off a few days before his newcomers, “ Venus Observed,” “ The Boy With a Cart” (both in verse), and “Ring Round the Moon,” which is an adaptation of the French money spinner, “ L’lnvitation au Chateau.” His success is good news these days, when American playwrights are dominating the London theatre. Fry, who comes of the well-known Quaker family, has been writing verse plays since he was 15. He is a retiring man and refuses to instal a telephone in his Cotswold cottage where he lives with his wife and 11-year-old son.

INTEREST IN EMIGRATION Since the art exhibition by Dominion students in New Zealand House last November the foyer has been painted and enlarged and is now much more attractive. The combination of a big window display and a stand of emigration photographs, which occupy half the foyer, has attracted many passersby. The receptionist (Miss Joan Evans) is handling an average of 50 inquiries a day, which is a big increase on the numbers whp called when the inquiry desk was in Halifax House opposite. One of her great regrets is to have to discourage the many fine young couples and families who are keen to emigrate, for. under present policy, financial assistance is offered to single persons only. One keen caller was a man who wanted to go out and try to find his wife, who had eloped with .an emigrant to New Zealand last year ABOUT WHISKY Whisky stocks in Britain total 110,000,000 gallons. That should fill about 600,000,000 bottles. Yet, whenever one asks for a bottle at the official price of 34s lOd one is greeted with an amused, condescending refusal. The Scotch whisky Association is marketing 11,000,000 gallons a year, of which Mr Strachey will allow only 2,000,000 gallons for home consumption. It seems that big stocks of bonded liquor are held by merchants and