OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. ; OLD FRIENDS. I (Special to News.) London, October 2. The Imperial Conference started ite official sittings this week. The Home and Dominion (Prime Ministers have had opportunity to make each other’s acquaintance in the meantime, though two of them are old friends. Mr. Scullin, Australia’s vigorous Labour (Prime Minister, and Mr. MacDonald,, our not-so-vigorous "Socialist Prime Minister, have known each other since 1906. Mr. MacDonald was then in Australia and spoke on Mr. Sculliffis behalf when the Australian was unsuccessfully putting up for Ballarat. Mr. Forbes, New Zealand Prime Minister, is a stranger, however, and a different type. Mr. Scullin shares Mr. MacDonald's literary taste, and, like so many Dominion people, is especially devoted to Dickens. UNEMPLOYMENT INQUIRY FIASCO. One hears a whisper that some members at all events of the three-party committee-now inquiring into the position of the Unemployment Insurance Fund are dissatisfied with the, taAk. All sorts of very pertinent and important points are being ruled outside the scope of. the committee’s inquiries, and so far consideration has been confined to the one question of uninsured persons bein" allowed to draw upon the fund. It is°likely that, when the House of Commons reassembles* and gets the report of the committee there will be a demand for a far more thorough and searching investigation of the whole system of the dole. Such a demand would be almost as difficult for the Government to resist as to accept. It will place Ministers in a real embarrassment. THE, CHANCELLOR PREPARES. In semi-official circles it is being discreetly advertised that Mr.' Snowden is again preparing to cross rapiers with the French Government. This time the matter at issue will be the 5 per cent, war loan raised ’by France in this country in 1915, the early redemption of which is now being proposed. The trouble is that British investors stand to lose enormously by the redemption, which is operated on the present value of the stabilised .paper franc, and. not upon the gold value at which the loan was raised. Should France put the proposal into effect, the lose to (British investors will amount to not less than £24,000,000. That is a big loss, and no Chancellor of the Exchequer would be prepared to advance in the matter, but his valour in doing battle will be the greater, for he is conscious of how far hie prestige at home has fallen off since the days of his prowess at The Hague, and another coup would be most useful to him at the present juncture. RUSSIA’S DECLINING CURRENCY. , The Soviet’s policy' of wholesale dumping of corn, sugar and other commodities on foreign markets may meet with swift retribution. This is indicated in.the signs of an impending collapse of the Russian currency, the tchervonetz showing symptoms of a decline similar to that which overtook the old rouble. Despite the f harsh measures taken against hoarders, I hear the silver subsidiary coinage has again almost .-.vanished' from circulation or is changing hands surreptitiously at twice its face value. Obviously'this is the outcome of the' draining away of commodities which are necessities of domestic consumption. In such circumstances prices are bound to rise, and no amount of rationing or arbitrary fixation can stop them. The Commissars, it would seem, are perturbed by a situation which they have themselves provoked. As a repiedy they are now reported to be considering the abolition of currency altogether, substituting for it a system of payment in ■kind. LORD BFRIKENHEAIX “tF.E.” won so much of his fame as a swashbuckling controversialist that his skill as a negotiator was not generally realised. Probably more than any other man he was responsible for drafting the agreement which resulted in the Irish settlement, and, when an unfortunate incident-precipitated the General Strike, he had devised a formula which promised to avoid that foolish business. His suppleness and ingenuity of mind were a great asset to his political colleagues. The lawyers who scoffed at his appointment to the Woolsack soon learned that he knew as much law as any of them, and some of his judgments —notably those on the Zetland case and on the legality of Masses for the dead —will probably rank as classics in legal literature. THE ASSUAN DAM TRAGEDY.' The tragic death of Sir John NortonGriffiths, whatever the result of the inquest at Alexandria, will cause some startling but timely revelations as to the insuperable difficulties which (British enterprise has to face when lit is called upon to work in combined authority with Oriental theorists. The history of the Assuan dam through the 30 years of its existence is a proud tribute to the excellence of British engineering. The dam, which was completed in 1902, brought with it such prosperity to Middle Egypt,that the demand for its waters justified the raising of the original 120 foot wall by a matter of 23 feet. This operation was carried to a successful conclusion in 1012. Then, in the early part of the present year, the Norton-Griffiths Company , was entrusted by the Egyptian Government to add yet another 23 feet to the height of the dam. This time, however, the company, of which Sir Jbhn was the head, was required to work in competition with the Egyptian resident engineering staff. Relations between this staff and the contractors have never been happy, and it was only a week ago that the company decided to stop operations, and call for an inquiry into what was alleged to be the “inexperience and technical incompetence’’ of its native co-operators. It is a story not without parallel in other countries. in the East, where practical British engineers have been called upon to submit to the circuitous procedure of Oriental collaborators. GENERAL SIR BRYAN MAHON. With the passing of -Sir Bryan Mahon Ireland loses its greatest soldier. There are now none of his generation and uietinction in the old British Army left. Sir Bryan was an Irishman from top to bottom. He'cared not “tuppence” for the high and mighty of the world, but had a wonderful regard for peasant and private. He was the joy of the priests a's he was the soul of a racecourse executive. Punchestown without Sir Bryan will be like Newmarket without Lord Lonsdale. He was a sorely-tried man. He succeeded to the Commander-in-■Chiefship in Ireland after Maxwell left.

He was a success because he understood the country. He stayed there through weal and woe, never deserting like some others did, for quieter scenes elsewhere. So that when his house was burned down by revolutionaries, he pitched his tent on the lawn, and lived there. Many an Irish boy who, in mistaken zeal, had probably assisted in its destruction, assisted in its re-building. His is a great loss to the land.

ANOTHER WAR IN SEVEN YEARS

A Sunday journal has published an article by Dr. Tibor Eckhardt, a Hungarian lawyer and politician, regarded as a coming personality in his own country, in which another European War in 1937 is predicted. Dr. Eckhardt is apparently coc-keure of his facts, and believes the spark that will explode the European powder-barrel will be supplied once more from Yugo-Slavia. Thus history is to repeat itself, exactly 23 years in an echo of the Serajevo pistoshot. These are gloomy forebodings and rather suggest Dr. Eckhardt as the political fat boy of Europe, but my flesh refuses to creep. It is ilm ■ settleu and professionally gloomy opinion of our War Office experts that there will be no more big fighting in Europe for at least 60 years. One good reason is that, earlier than that nobody could possibly afford it. LORD ZETLAND AS VICEROY. While no official announcement of the name , of Lord Irwin’s successor is likely to be made for some time, there is more than a likelihood that the next Viceroy of India will i>e the Marquis of Zetland. Five years ago, on the retirement of Lord Reading from the vice-regal post, the name of Lord Ronaldshay, as be then was, was much favoured for this high office. Should the Marquis of Zetland now succeed Lord Irwin, the appointment would be welcomed by a large body of both British and Indian opinion which suffered a certain amount of disappointment when he was not chosen' at the earlier occasion. As Governor of Bengal Lord Ronaldshay endeared himeelf to Indians and Europeans equally by reason of his liberal and democratic jurisdiction and firm statesmanship. In the difficult ahead the wisdom of such a choice can hardly be doubted by anyone, and if the appointment occasions surprise in certain quarters it will ,be because the present Government has not been credited with the aavoir faire to make it. ROOF-DROMES AND GIRO-TAXIES. Remarkable air developments may shortly be seen im London. Experts talk now of getting over the difficulty of Croydon’s remoteness from the city by running small light ’planes, or airtaxies, which will take passengers to and from the main air terminus in a few minutes. The air taxiee will operate between Ci'oydon and a landing roof over the Thames, probably near Charing Cross. Npr is this the only, development confidently predicted. The modern fer-ro-concrete building methods, will facilitate roof-landings all over London, from which special gyro-taxiee, capable of making vertical landings, will connect all parts of the Metropolis with Charing Cross and each other. Some enthusiasts can already , see the time coming when the ordinary street taxi will be almost as obsolete, as the horse growler. UNEASY' CROWN. . . The inevitable reactions in Spain, following the fall- of the dictatorship, and the removal of the censorship, are causing anxiety to King Alfonsos many London friends. At a huge bull-ring demonstration in Madrid an ultimatum has been addressed to the King, with the alternatives of abdication or revolution. Which sounds ominously like asking him to “go quietly.’’ It was a. remarkable meeting. One speaker, with a real touch of Cervantee, asked whether Spain was “a chicken farm ruled by monkeys,” and the speeches were recorded, to the extent of 100 yards of paper tape, on a typewriter-shorthand machine ’ such as we have never yet introduced. It was operated, moreover, by a golden-haired senorita in a black lace mantilla. It sounds most un-Span-ish and more like an American talkie film. NAPOLEON OF PERU. (Peru’s new (President, Colonel Cerro, is a remarkable personality. He is qnly five feet in height, about the same as Napoleon, but he is a real fire-eater. He has been “mixing, it” in innumerable fights all his life, and bears the scars of no fewer than 16 bullet, wounds. Nine years ago,- in some revolutionary emeute,.his right arm was put out of action permanently. But his fighting spirit is undimmed to-day, though he was right through the worst of the Spanish campaign against the Riffs as a soldier of fortune. He has much of thp Fascist idea in his political make 7 up, and his slogan is. Nelson’s Trafalgar battle signal amended to fit the case of 'Peru. He was an exile at- the time he occupied his energies, with the 'Spaniards in Morocco, but has now made good in a thrilling coup d’etat, and (Peru may benefit by his enthusiastic regime as progressive reformer. BOLSHEVIK ART SHOW. People not normally intrigued by picture Shows are keenly interested in a forthcoming art exhibition at the •Bloomsbury Gallery. This will be formally opened early this month by the Soviet /Ambassador, M. Sokolnikoff, directly he returns to London from his present Moscow visit. It will include over 400 works by a group of about 100 Russian painters. To the art student and connoisseur the occasion will be fascinating as a revelation of Bolshevik influence in the art world, but to a much wider public the attraction will be a glimpse of Soviet Russia through Russian eyes. As many portraits of Soviet chiefs are included in the show, we may, through the medium of the portrait painter, learn something of the true psychology behind the most volcanic political impulse since B.C. AMERICA’S BRIDGE VICTORY. 'By a fairly substantial margin the American players have beaten ours IB; the contract bridge test match at Almack’s. It was a foregone conclusion: that they would. The play was ..ot uy rubbers, which is our habit, but by total points scored ou a number of hands, and at this form of game, which cuts out all the tactics of the ordinary rubber play, American card experts arc well practised. Moreover, the comparative form of the leading American players is well known by such tests. We have no means of knowing who are really our best exponents, and certainly they were not amongst our teams at Almack’s. Some of the play was mediocre, and the few touches of brilliant finesse usually came from the Americans. I know several London club contract specialists, however, whom I would cheerfully back against the best of the Americans at rubber play for stakes.