OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1930, Page 18 (Supplement)

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. k CITY AND BUDGET. (Special to News.) London, April 17. The attitude of must city men to Mr. Snowden’s Budget was not so much criticism as disappointment. So much had been made of the great secrecy being adopted thin year in connection with the Budget proposals that many city men expected to hear Mr, Snowden had some ingenious new scheme for rai.-dn<r money. Instead- of this he has fallcn°baek on the obvious stand-by of all Clianeellorn, and lias raised the in-come-tax. In spite of Mr. Snowden’s assurances, the increase, will affect oven the person with rt small -income, if it is drawn from investments, since the full tax itt 4s (id in the pound will be deducted from all dividends. The big insurance com panics must be thinking Mr. Snowden not a little ungrateful, lie has knocked on the head the scheme by. ’ which large single-premium insurances are taken out by rich men to avoid’Bur-tax, which has proved a reniarkably profitable source of revenue fcr insurant-• companies. This seems hardly, a gracious “thank .you” for the support given to Mr. Snowden’s conversion proposal by these same insurance companies last year.

THE THREE-POWER PACT. There is no mistaking the relief Mr. MacDonald feels now that, the tense strain of the Naval Conference is over. His face looks less careworn and his step is more buoyant already. It is • true, the conference has not achieved all he hoped, .hut. the three-Power pacts puts a .pacifist: seal on Western and Eastern oceans for some timh to come, and there is? still a possibility that France and Italy , may eventually come into line sufficiently to enable the original .idea of a .five-Power pact, guaranteeing cessation from armament rivalry in European waters, also to be embodied. Beyond all of which there is a prospective saving of £70,000,000 on naval estimates in view. If the LabourLiberal pact also materialises, and the Government lives to Budget again, Mr. Snowden’s task a year hence may bo somewhat less Draconic than it was on Monday. TRADE WITH RUSSIA. , The fact that short term credits to a total value of £1,305,000 have been granted to Russia under the exports credits facilities, between the time when the present Government came into office and. March 31,. is causing bitter resentment among Conservative M.’sP. Mrich of the resentment was given expression to in the speeches which followed the announcement of the fact in the House of Commons by Mr. Gillett, but still more was to e heard in the lobby. Mr. A. M. Samuel's view that trade with Russia is a chimera, that sooner or later there must bo a financial crash in .that country, and that we are already carrying too big a risk, is reflected on all sides, the consensus of opinion being that no credits should be given until the negotiations which are said to be proceeding between Mr, Henderson and the Soviet Ambassador have been carried through to the discharge by Russia of her financial commitments to us. That Russia will ever recognise her debts if she can get what she wants from us without doing so is not believed for a moment. Even if Mr. Henderson is sincere in his efforts to get a settlement of these debts, the Conservatives are positive that all his attempts will prove abortive so long as Russia can get goods from us on terms that are to her own advantage and not to ours. MOSCOW’S QUICK WAY. During its recent witch-hunt amongst ite diplomatic and trading rejiresentatives abroad, the Soviet ordered several Russians in London to report in Moscow. Labour admirers of the Soviet regard thio as the same thing as our own recall of officials serving- in foreign parts. They arc mistaken. Under the penal cede officially published by the Soviet itself persons refusing to -return home on recall are outlawed, which entails confiscation of their property, ■and-shooting. .24 .hours after identification. The sentence is passed after a trial in the absence of the accused.. In ■all the European' capitals there is a growing band of Soviet “outlaws,” and I am 'told, that agents of the Cheka keep in touch with them. It would be interesting to know whether, during Mr. Henderson’s protracted conversations with tho Soviet Ambassador in London, tliifi sort of thing is going on in London.

ASSURANCE OR NERVES? There are many who have never been able to determine whether Mr. Churchill’s temperament is one of overweening selfassurance, or whether ho is just highly strung. To both schools of thought an incident when ho was sworn as a Privy Councillor in 1907, before King Edward, may be of interest. It is rotated in the memoi'is of Sir Al meric Fitzßoy. “We have a Council' this morning at which Winston Churchill was sworn. Whether to mark his aloofness from ordinary restraints, he came in a cut-away coat. The King kept us waiting for some time, and during the last ten minutes or 'so Winston paced up and down the far end of the room with rapid strides, his head bent upon his breast, and his hands in his eoat tail pockets, a vei-y curious figure. While, explaining to hirn the nature' of tho ceremony, 1 found his hands straying up to my neck, and, before I knew what he was about he had put my tie straight for me. which I took to be another instance of sedulous restteflfinoss.” At that tinve Sir Al meric was unaware that Wineton was to become - Chancellor of Bristol University, and that he may have teen merely putting in the time acquiring the pedagogic touch—26 years before it was required! PACIFIST TATTOOS. 1 heard that, faeides severely limiting their number, the Government in giving orders for all military tattoos this -'year to bo strictly pacifist. No hisfori'cal event of a combative nature must bo staged unless it is centuries old, and' even then the present Vvtar; Office regime will view it coldly, This anti-militarist effort in jnlliUrv epee- 1 taele le doubtleefi a sop to the Left Winjt of the Socialist party, but I doubt’itfi popular guecese, Once an army tnlto

becomes just an ordinary pageant, and tho glint- of fighting steel and roll of gunfire is taboo, the whole thrill will vanish I am afraid. Human nature being what it ie, no matter how “Social’iem in Our Time” may attempt to tutor it, the spectacle of troops in fatigue drees, and without arms, will hardly arouse as much enthusiasm as a realistic fire brigade display. A young R.A.F. friend suggests, however, that massed bombing squadrons disseminating anti-militarist tracts from the sky might be a pleasing effect. PORT O’LONDON. It is necessary from time to time to remind Londoners that they are a seafaring population to the extent of boasting the busiest port in the kingdom. Last year' the tonnage of' London’s shipping established a record, and, notwithstanding all' tho talk of trade depression, the experts believe the present year will top even that. This expectation is partly based on the fact that during next month Tilbury’s new landing-stage, a thousand and fifty feet long, will bo completed and thereby additional attractions held out for Atlantic liners to make London their sea terminus. I am doubtful whether the big ocean liners will accept tho invitation, however, because tho steaming from Southampton on to tho Thames estuary is rather troublesome. And passengers would still be faced by tho necessity, even at Tilbury, of entraining. NEW EARL OF BALFOUR. Seventy-seven is rather an advanced age at which to succeed to a peerage; but that is the age reached this week by the new Earl , of Balfour, who succeeded to his distinguished brother’s .earldom by special remainder last month. Lord Balfour’s own career has been overshadowed by that of his distinguished brother; but he lias had a career on his own account which does not lack distinction. He was M.P. for Central Leeds for 21. years, but was swallowed up in the Unionist landslide of Iflfffi, and never sought to return to Westminster. He has been Chief Secretary for Ireland, President of tho Board of Trade, and president of the Local Government Board, and is the last survivor of Queen Victoria’s Cabinet Ministers. He married a daughter of tho first Earl of Lytton, and for some months before the end they made a devoted attempt to nurse the late Lord Balfour back to health at their home, FisheY’s Hill, Woking, They have five daughters and on© son, who now becomes Viscount Traprain of Whittinghame. MR. BALDWIN AS CHANCELLOR. Mr, Baldwin goes to St, Andrews early next month to bo formally installed as Chancellor of tho University, Ho

will bo accompanied by Mr. John Buchan, who is one of the members fop tho Scottish Universities,..and knows the academic life of the north with intimacy. He is among the honorary graduates on the occasion of the new Chancellor taking office. Mr. Baldwin is not. likely to regard his Chancelloijship as a siiiecure. Though not a professed scholar in tho technical sense, ho is fond of the academic atmosphere, and ho likes nothing better than to return for an occasional evening to Trinity College, Cambridge, where there is plenty of good talk and good fellowship. He will in future have St. Andrews as a second place of resort —and ho is not a golfer. RE-ENGINED AIRSHIP. They say now that the RIO'O may bo ready for her maiden voyage to Canada next month. .Within two or three weeks the huge airship will be taken out of her shed again for renewed trials, amongst the items to be determined being the new system of overcoming trouble which her fabric fixings revealed on earlier flights. Beyond redoping tho whole of her Immense envelope, it is understood 'that tho Rlfifi has been fitted with fresh engines. There is no change in the typo of engine, but merely a substitution of another class of the same type. This alteration will not, it is said, affect tho vessel’s horse-power, but may ensure greater reliability under long-dis-tance tests. There will be great interest ami keen competition for berths, in tho Rlfl'O’s first Atlantic flight.

SOBRIETY OF THE ARMY.

In regimental messes there has been general agreement that the anti-mili-tary bias of pacifists has overshot tho mark by taking advantage of scurrilous tales of drunkenness in the army to prove that all our soldiers in France existed largely on drink, and fought with no real patriotic feeling beyond what the fumes of alcohol produced. For that is what is meant by much of tho present-day literature and drama about the . army. Tho proof of the. sobriety of tho British army .is afforded by the figures of courts-martial held on drunkards, and on regimental and corps conduct sheets dealing with the eases that came before commanding officers. One regimental colonel tells me that in three years in France he had only two men up before him for drunkenness. In every regiment that was well led and officered neither officers nor men were addicted to drink, and any such were quickly detected, and marked down as unreliable for promotion, or for duties involving trust and responsibility. IRISH MOTORING FLAIR. Ireland has contributed a fair share of the world’s fastest motorists. Mr. Kaye Don was born in Dublin, though ho was brought to this country at a tender ago. He has put up many excellent records, but is best remembered in Ireland for winning the first Ulster Tourist Trophy race. Mr, Kaye Don competed in last year’s Irish Interna--tional Grand Prix, and it is hoped that he will be seen again at Phoenix Park next July. Sir Henry Segrave. and Mr.

K. L. Guinness, who has a high Continental reputation as a driver, are both Irishmen. During the last few years Ireland has produced three winners of the Tourist Trophy race in S. Woods, A. Bennet and C. W. Johnston;. The ex-Dublin University men, J. A. Carvill and H. G. T.' Smith, can ; claim prominent position in the motorcyclo racing- world. NEW CLUBS. . It is a remarkable fact that one still hears proposals for forming new clubs in London, despite the fact that most of the 'existing institutions are on their beam ends. There is no doubt that high taxation and the modern motor necessity are hitting the West End clubs badly. Most hard-pressed of all are the service clubs. Naval and military reductions are not only depriving them of potential new members, but a large proportion of the retired officers, who constitute the majority of their existing membership, are making their club subscriptions the first sacrifice on the altar of economy. Yet we are likely to have two new clubs in the near future. Premises have already been secured in New Oxford Street, with iilfluential' Labbur backing, for a Trade' Unions Club, and a suggestion has been more than mooted for a luxurious Maharajah Club, restricted to Indian Princes!

FOREIGN WAITERS. ’ i ’ With all deference to the experts who advanced them, the views put before tho Licensing. Commission on the foreign waiter question are great nonserise. We are solemnly assured that the reason why foreign waiters so greatly preponderate in .this country, especially in London and the large hotels, is because they are better at the work, and' because Britons object to waiting as a servile calling. Anyone who holds that English waiters are inferior, to foreigners can never have lunched' at one of the old city chop houses where English waiters are employed. Nor can they be cognisant of the' amenities ’ot The Cock, the famous Fleet Street inn made immortal by Johnson. Just as big bunkum is the talk of British psychology and “servility.” English ■butlers and footmen are recognised as the best in the world. The simple explanation of the foreign ivaiter is the foreign hotel manager. MR. BALDWIN AND THE OLD LADY. An old journalistic friend of mine is away in Stirlingshire, recovering in his native air from a serious operation. But the instinct of the busman’s holiday is strong within all .Fleet Street men, and he eends me. a pretty’episode. At Stenhouseinuiar there dwells, a Mrs. Eadie, aged 93, a baker whoso shortbread is world famous. She still manages her business herself and is at work every day. A year ago she was introduced to Mr. Stanley Baldwin, thenPrime Minister, as the oldest Conservative in Stirlingshire. S.B, took to her at once. “Ninety-two, Mrs. Eadie, a great age; I am <56 myself.” “Hoots awa’,” said tho old lady, “sixtysix—yere only a bairn!” Recently Mrs. Eadie had an accident. S<he received a charming letter of sympathy from Mr. Baldwin in his own hand. J

"AIMS FOR OBLIVION. It is rather distressing that London’s statue of William the Fourth, overlooking London Bridge, is going a-begging. Few of the millions who stream past him daily know who he is even, and now the comnjon,: council,, has- decided to remove him as a’ traffic hindrance. The one embarrassment is : . what, to do with him. Tho least the common council can do is to offer him as a companion piece to William. of Orang© on Brixham Quay. 1 have looked up William IV. in an old school history, and find ho was warm-hearted, openhanded, free and cord.ial, and “though ho possessed neither brilliant genius nor excellent .wisdom, strong, sound sense guided every act of his reign.” It reads like a character sketch of a veritable John Bull. Yet this admirable monarch’s statue is to be thrown to the motorists. . ' THE HOME SECRETARY. . It is difficult to realise that ‘Mr. Clynes, who was 61 this Week, holds .the same office as “Jix,” for the public hears little of the present Home Secretary, and could nqt avoid hearing about-: his predecessor. Indeed, Mr. Clynes car--rice self-effacement.,to a fault. Heyhaa , a wide and accurate' vocabulary,, mainly due to the fact that the first-book which aroused his interest was a, .dictionary he bought for 6d on' a secondhand stall when ae was a half-timer in a Lancashire cotton mill. WHOLESALE AND RETAIL PRICES. I gdther that Mr. William Graham’s visit to Geneva, in a vain attempt to save the tariff truce .conference, has impressed him with the strong resemblance between the agricultural and economic situation in Continental countries and in this. Last year’s superabundant harvests everywhere have been almost ruinous to the farmers, and, retail prices not having fallen in the same ratio as wholesale, there has been >,no increase of demand such a,s might have relieved the situation. The “lag” in th© drop of price to the consumers is bound to stimulate the Government in : its efforts to find-some means of controlling imports .of food and other necessaries, and to encourage the formation of co-operative organisations . ~by farmers for the more direct marketing of' their produce. Retailers would /be wise if they made some attempt. -to anticipate iliese operations by reducing the necessity for them. j .