OUR LONDON-LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 26 April 1930, Page 18 (Supplement)

OUR LONDON-LETTER

THE SOFT PEDAL. ...... • - London, March fl. We have apparently seen the end of the “prosperity party” stunt. Before the “climb down” Lord Rothermere had an article, for which his out-and-out Protectionist friends may or may not be grateful, .boosting Empire free trade because it would remove Indian tariffs and give India’s teeming population the blessings of cheap imports. It is amazing what blunders even the most adroitly coached novices can ■ make when they, momentarily step aside from a market tape-machine to- dictate national statecraft. The stunt has been buttressed by some really astounding publicity facts, but nothing could ever surpass one flaming headline, in Lord Rothermere’s evening journal; “Mr. Baldwin adopts, the United Empire party’s policy.” Anyone who takes the trouble to read Mr. Baldwin’s Hotel Cecil speech will have to admit that audacity takes the biscuit factory. But it .means, seemingly, that, having completely failed to coerce Conservatism, the stunt is now to be pigeon-holed along with standard bread and sweet peas. “CRUSADE” UPSETS INVESTORS. Apart from political considerations, I am told that the Empire Tree Trade “stunt” had a disquieting effect upon business circles. The great amount of publicity given to the “crusade” reacted unfavourably on the more nervous class of investors. A well-known city man tells me that this week, within his own personal knowledge, two persons, totally unacquainted with each other, have sold out very considerable holdings of English securities, and have reinvest-, ed their money in American shares. Both gave the same reason for their action, namely, that they /have been made uneasy, first by the steadily in-, creasing .unemployment figures sincq the Socialist Government took office, and secondly, by the fear that . the blazoned manifestos of. .the United Empire Party would irretrievably divide the non-Socialist vote at the next election, and lay the Country open to the real peril of “Socialism in our time.” REAL SERVICE ECONOMIES. Government spokesmen are unanimous , that “cuts” will be made in the coming j estimates in each branch of the three ; fighting services, but none has disclosed I the direction these economies will take. I It will be interesting to see whether i this Government will succeed, where its ; predecessors failed, in restoring the in- ■ flated administrative stuffs of the ser- ; vice departments to businesslike di- • mensions. Both at the Admiralty and J the War Office there would appear to be a good many people who have so successfully “dug themselves in” as to be invulnerable to the economist’s attack It is surely time that a thorough combing out was meticulously applied in these two departments, whose clerical staffs, civil and military, are 50 per cent; more, than before the war. It-is incomprehensible why this enormous extra burden should have to be shouldered when both the services, compared with pre-war days, liave been “pared to the bone.” BOON TO SHIPOWNERS. Hard-driven though he is by the Ides 1 of March, Mr. Snowden did not refuse ' £45,000 for the construction of a second i experimental tank at Teddington. The , existing tank was donated by that great i Clyde celebrity, Sir Alfred Yarrow, who ’ presented it to the nation at a cost of : £20,000. Since it was opened, 19 years j ago. Sir Alfred’s gift has been of incalculable benefit to British shipping. For a modest fee, shipowners may consult the tank' experts, whose expert- j ments with proposed new vessels, wax- : modelled in miniature, enable them i often to save hundreds of-thousands of ■ pounds. They can discover how ’elight j alterations in design may give either ! greater speed with the samd power or j greater cargo capacity with the same [ speed. Y’et the whole thing is comical- i ly reminiscent of a small boy playing with a toy boat in his bath. !

MR. MACDONALD AT THE FRONT.

General Seely’s “Adventure,” in the foreword of which Lord Birkenhead likens him to D’Artagnan, is a rousing autobiography. ■ In the Boer War the author did the Empire the signal service of one’ missing a close-range snapshot at General Louis Botha himself. In 1914 he was sent by G.11.Q. to rescue Mr. J. R. MacDonald, whom some military policeman had arrested at Dunkirk. He drove the future Prime Minister' towards Dixmude, where the car car came under fire, and its occupants had to take to a ditch. General Seely pays tribute to Mr. MacDonald’s coolness under the ordeal. He had difficulty in stopping him from leaving shelter to .go forward to assist two wounded men, which was rather different, from some other distinguished civilians who visited “the front.” ■. . ■ • • BUILT THE DOME. Not many Londoners remembered last week, even though keenly interested ,in the!' forthcoming re-opening of St. Paul’s, the anniversary. of Sir Christopher Wren’s death. The greatest of all-our master builders lived to a green old age. Wren was 91 when he passed away in 1723, and, since he was born in 1632 —two years before Chief Justice Finch and Attorney-General Noy proposed to revive ship-money, and 17 years before that folly caused Charles I. to walk out of a window of the United i Service Institute to his death —the great | cathedral that was his chef d'oeuvre is linked far back in our history. Wren’s closing years were gloomy wit]) the chagrin of slighted genius. He spent hours sitting'beneath his monumental dome. Can it be the old man knew its supports had •’ been scamped, and its future security jeopardised? SWEEPSTAKES. With the Grand National now only a month ahead, “sweepstake fever'’ is once again epidemic, and. although the Grand National him not quite the same appeal to the public ns the Derby, it in a very good second. In I lie opinion of many, it lends itself to a, sweepstake even more than the Derby does, for I .notice that in some of the big sweeps on this race there arc special prizes for the horses that complete the course, as well as smaller ones for those that fall. With the Stock Exchange Sweep this year restricted to one-tenth of its

size of last year, the public will find it difficult to participate, and in consequence it is more than likely that the Calcutta Sweep will be a bumper. A number of people are already taking time by. the forelock, and sending out to India to obtain numbers, hoping against hope that they may net in an hour a fortune they could never earn in a dozen lifetimes. CHANNEL TUNNEL REPORT. In addition to the report of the India Commission, which it is now believed will be published shortly after Easter, political circles are beginning to exhibit active curiosity in the report of the Channel Tunnel Committee, which is now also believed to be imminent; In the meantime, it is anticipated in the lobby that the report will be generally favourable to, but not unduly enthusiastic about, the tunnel scheme. It is thought that the committee will not find that there are any technical or. political barriers in the way of the undertaking; but that it will be less decisive in its opinions as to the economic returns derivable from the enterprise. In any ease, the report will not determine the question, which will still have to be weighed by the Committee of Imperial Defence, and by the Government, before it goes before Parliament.

END OF AN ORATOR?

Anthropologists who wish to make one’s fish creep occasionally assure one that human skin makes the best leather, and quote the excellent footstools made by certain cannibal tribes. There is, however, one specimen, in the I new exhibition of Maya relics- from,- ! British Honduras, which opened ■ last ,1- Monday at the British Museum, which I no anthropologist has thought of dej scribing. It is a nice piece of human jawbone, polished, and inscribed with I glyphs in the Maya language of a date, i about the first century A.D. Captain | Joyce, its- discoverer, tells me he has ! not been able to decipher the writing en--1 tirely, but believes that-one of the j symbols is that for the west wind. It l would be a pleasant fancy to see in the ■ relic the memorial of*’some particularly tempestuous orator, and it is to be noted that the amulet—if that is what it is—shows signs that it is distinctly ■ bored. i LORD-IN-WAITING. I j Lord Marley, formerly Major O. L. ‘ Aman, who enjoys the distinction of ' being created a peer and Lord-in-wait- ■ ing to the King direct from the status of ' an untitled commoner, last week enter- ■ cd upon his duties at Buckingham Palace i for the first time. Lord Marley is in • what is designated “close-wait” for a I month, which involves his attendance at. th. Palace daily in the morning whilst the Court is in residence, unless excused from duty by His Majesty. Lord Marley’s appointment is a political one, and he was specially created to fill, the further office of lord-in-waiting to the King. The duties of a lord-in-waiting are numerous. He is always on duty—that is, always ready to carry out the King’s commands—but usually periodically, about every three or four months, he is in “close-wait,” which means attendance at the Palace to assist in receiving distinguished visitors and introducing them to the King. It is the King’s pleasure whether ho remains ! with His Majesty during the reception ! by the King. Generally, too, the lord- ! in-waiting makes himself au fait with j the inner movements of his party in the ' Government. \ ■ ARMY COCK-A-HOOP. i A 16-10 win at Twickenham against the Navy, before the Duke of York and umpteen Brass Hats in Saturday mufti, makes the Army Service rugger chami pions for the third successive year, with, i a total of eight victories to. the Navy’s i.j . They are sure to beat the R.A.F., ; who have already succumbed to the i Navy, and, since that glorious year when l the redoubtable “Wakers” led them to victory, have been under dogs in the tourney. The battle between the Navy l and Army was a sparkling exhibition [ of perfectly elean ruthlessness, with I the red boate beaten by the sailors forI ward, but much stronger “aft.” Their I backs were less selfish and more, of a I team, and in second Lieutenant MeCreight, R.A., they have a scrum; half ; full}' as brilliant as Arthur Young! once was. All through the game a ■ huge crowd goaded on their favourites, in blended quarter deck and parade ground double bass and post-war flapper treble. VITAL HAIRY. The Shire Horse Show, held last'week .at the Royal Agricultural Hall, had for its object the breeding of heavy draught horses, which are as useful in industry as in farming. The parade in the arena for judging was a magnificent sight, to the accompaniment of periodical neighings and prancings and even kickings of stalwart beasts. But amidst all these distractions, which at least brought the countryside right into the metropolis as so much local colour, it was easy to recognise that the tendency nowadays is to reduce the amount of “feather,” i.e., , .that shagginess of heel which ip the difl- ' tinguishing mark of the “Hairy.” .The Scot,, for instance, hates feather, aP the cult of the typical Clydesdale proves, but at the same time the average s/iirt-' breeder considers that this same fedtHer is an indication of strength j and vitality. MORE PRISON REFORM. .

Officials of the Prison Commission are no. perturbed by recent suggestions that the State has gone far enough in making gaols more habitable than workho'uecG. Nottingham is to be the centre of a new experimental extension of prison reformatory endeavour. This will take the form of a training college for young criminals. These will be specially selected, between 21 and 26—the right college age—as being old enough to be hardened criminals but nof. old enough to be beyond all hope. At the training col 1 o e each “student” will receive training to fit him for useful work after “graduating.” The cight-hour-day principle is to obtain, and the evenings spoilt in physical recreation or'educational pursuit. It sounds quite attractive, and much cheaper than one of the older universities.