OUR LONDON LETTER

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1930, Page 14 (Supplement)

OUR LONDON LETTER

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. ■• ,»’> . ill I. ' ■ I n•, ■■ THE GOVERNMENT’S PROGRAMME - . (Special to News.) London, Oct. 30. There will be no shortage of interest in the opening debates of this present grissiori ,6f Parliament. For the present members of the Opposition parties are h'6t quite decided as to whether they atte to" tdke the GoVernriient’s programme ris a joke, or ris d piece of stupendous conceit. Certainly Mr. Baldwin’s estimate of three years for negotiating the amount, of legislation ; 4mb6di4d in the speech is not excesiMvA', EVe'n with An assured majority th'i Gov’errimefit could hardly hope to negotiate sb" ranch eofitroversial legislation by next July. Without sudi A majority—and the extraordinary quibble 6n electoral reform indicates that rid bargain has' been struck with the Libdrrils—the prograihme is prerind the only presuriiptiori possible is that Mr. ' MacDonald hris no thought of carrying the present session through .to a normal termination. Speeulatiori, th'drefofe, is now rife as to when the appeal tq'tlie country is to be iri'ade. Mr. MacDonald's. indication . fh'rit the Trade Disputes Bill is to be reirirdrid the suggestion that Christmas is to be turned before the crisis arises, but it may also be iaken . rid i’ riigi that he prefers to hjeet defeat oh somd' isdiie on which his party would receive iriore general sympathy in the country. AN BUSINESS LEAD? Soriid' Conservatives rife urging that, .ris thd bdst policy for tlieir party at the cdrtiing; elections, tariff hatchets should be buriedand a realistic Concentration 6n national economy;' Mr. Baldwin’s critics have no greater quirrel : with' Aim thriri dVer liiri failure to realusd the. .for retrenchment when Jjp .wasJin odice. Ono suggestion is th&ty ad eyiderice of real doterminatiop, ri, bdihniittce of-big business men should overhaul the . expenditure,. and . recommend such redactions as it deemed fit. Such a procedure riii’ght not impress the pnbliCji howeVer, dftcr the fate of the Geddes Axe. Over a decade ago our pqiiticlrihri. Were, given the expert business Mady but,.a good, many scores of have, been heaped bn the Budget Since’ then. ■ A FOOL’S PARADISE. The Chambers bf Commerce have, moreover,• already done .what it ih proposed a business. conimitfCe should do, and recommend a, 16 per cent, cut in nri.iioiih.l expenditure all round. This ia apparently. tire plan adopted for ~ the Liberal : pt6grrimm& by Mr. .Lloyd George/ and would, on the £820,000,000 Budget/ fepreeeiit an economy of £BO,OOff.OOO. But anyone .who talks thia (Juggestion Oyer with the average, civil iervarifc or M.P. Will soon realise what, a fool’A paradise wO. are , now living in. Though ribne will deity the urgent need for retrerichmerit,- few recognise what it riiuM mean. The country, has reached A stagd when economy without tcare is a futile impossibility, The only ecoridrriy that would meet the case ife brie involving inevitably great hardships,' but there:-is as yet not the slightest Sigh thrit, either at Whitehall or. Westminister, this fact is appreciated. MOSCOW’S POLICY.If one Still retained the capacity to get hot under the collar;, the Labour Gibrefriment’A dealings with Mofecbw might bvoice that sensation. is ridizihg the oppbrtiinity of an unfrecedfenttd economic depression to strigger fueling foreign markets by dumping siipplles dt impossibly cut prices. These eilpiplicfe rife seciired by enforcing slave labour bri Russians starving for lack of th6ri© Sttrhd dufhped commodities; At tfib SrimO tirfe; regardlees of eLxpence, MbAcbw is mariufactiiring propaganda Specially for China and the teemihs Eaet, .-in Which tlie briital wholesale daughter Of Whites is depicted as feacred vt-ork. ' it a Socialist Ministry insists bn sedkififf the diplomatic friendship of tHihm Stalin terrorists .it is its' own Afeir/btit-wlijr. should British taxpayers 17 compelled id Shoulder the. risks run 'byftitril men. who ,desire lofig-cfedit dealings with them?. b AN AWKWARD AFFAIR-.

Tiffs- Shilling of the’ Gorman steamer Baden by the Brazilian fort at Chap Paehhiia; hpari from the tragic loss of HiBj 1& aw awkward international incidSfib It retails the memorable Dogger Bfifilt hffai'r, when a Riissian Fleet, bBtiiid ffcffii the Baltic tb the Far East, whffib Admiral Togo’s guiis exacted tefrible rbtribtitibh, opened fire' oh Britifeh Nbfth Sea trawlers on a panic rebdrt that thby wfere Japanese torpedo boats. Even though the new rule th of Brazil have blade full apology, and riieet demands for heavy compEncatibn, there is the danger,, in Germany’s present State, that Hitler’s steelhats will endeavolif td. make political capital out of •filS episode. Europe cannot afford to let the-guns of Chao Paehana repeat anything like the history of ths Serajevo pistol shfit. • • SIDE-TRACKING PERSONALITY. ' Everybody . Mil rejoice if the persistent’reports about Lord Hewart’s health af&vfe falsS, and- the Lord Chief Justice isagaih able t 6 rfesume hie work On the Benlh: ‘ Biit, ifieaiiwhile, as I have already inciitibried, ih Ibgtl circles, whidh are Usually- fairly frail informed, Sir jbhft Simon’s .haihe is coupled with that high judicial post. It would be a distihct-' Tbsfe to politick and public life, hawfever distinguished the gain to the law, Should Sir JOlifi dveiltually become Lord ChfeE Not is-hti tile- only outstanding Liberal whbni report marks dbWn for sidS-tfhek.iiig from the big arena. Sir Herbert Samuel is being feerioiisly suggested as the next India h Viedrby. He would be another big loss to Westminster and public affairs at home. The TttOL tragedy wrecked Mr. MacDonald’s hope of seeing liiß friend, Lord Thoihebn, installed at Simla. WHEAT QUOTA. Softib busihefefe pedplb are less sahgdihe than mdst'politicians about the ■feticeesslul working of> the proposed frhfeat piiota. Uftdef this quota Byetehi all millers lit the United Kingdom would be compelled'to grind a certain ratio of Htnfie ahd pOininibh wheat when mak-ing-■Spit?*edhstiniplibrt in this fjoUitiry. il ahi told at prfeefit dm' flour is cbfn'pbsed of 13 per cent, home grown, 44 -pet cent. Dominion, and 4o per cent, foreign wheat. The proposal is that by slow degrees the foreign elemciils should be redilced, until the home aiid dvefsOa ihriiiers dt the Einpire supply 85 per cent., or even 90 per cent. The Imperial /advantage of such -a scheme, as wfell hs those of our own agricullurisls, are obvious, but it means fixing a variable standard price for home and Dominion wheat,.: and therein lies the possibility of tng public losses—aiid big private gaiiifi.

LESSONS OF PALESTINE.

Neither the Jew nor th'e Arab will be i pleased at the decision of the British 1 Government to deal impartially with the Palestine situation. Both parties thought, or at least hoped, that they might be the favoured ones. The Holy Land is holy ground to three great religions of the world, and also to a number of fanatical religious communities, which give trouble at certriin seasons rind iri certain places. The same walled city of old Jerusalem contains more elements of fanatical disorder than any other similar, area on the face of the globe. After the war this hotbed of religious fanaticism was curbed by a garrison of British troops, but vvhen that garrison disapperired, and the British gendarmerie were disbanded, disturbances were the order of the day. jii military circles in London the decision to keep in Palestine a gaifison of two infantry regiments, a company of armoured cars, and Some air units, is regarded as a blessing in disguise, aS it is hoped that it will lead to a reebrisidefation of the military problem’ in Egypt—the most vital ceritre of th’d defence of the Empire. Neter Was that historic ceritre of the earth fr6m the Nile to Lidia in more need of ah effective garrison to ensure pedefe and the safety of Eriipire tfride routes tliriri today. ■ RECRUITING FOR THE ARMY. / There is ho lack of recruitA for the Regular Arriiy, blit the difficulty ifi to get the right type, educationally and physically. The Shortage in tlie Regular units, principally infantry, is still in the region of 10,000, while the Tetritorials remain about 40,000 below their establirihrrient. Although the country is frequently told that the, War Office is seriously considering schemes to overtake the deficiencies in both first arid second lines, yet nothing has bdeii done, in that directiou. it is evident that the Government have passed tlie\vorrl that things shall remain as, they are. To make up the eStablisiiriierits would mean increasing costs to the arriiy estimates and depriving ‘’Social services’’ bf a Corresponding sum. unless further taxatioifi were imposed. By preserving the present shortage, roughly 2| millions caii be saved annually. That estimate is based on the cost of an infantry battalion at peace establishment. TriE SCOTS WAY. When I hopping a refund on tiVb, war ’crutches in tlie hamlet where the Dukb of Richmond arid Gordon has his Highland castle, I discovered that, thanks to a splendid arid well-endowed school, tho village riiriking its m’rirk bn history. At that date tlie htiad of tlie Scottish Uhurch, the head Of the Scottish Bericli, and the leading Scottish surgeon were all three Sons of different, postmen in that brib village. A similar distinction—only in this case rill three, are sous bf the same fathermight be claimed, by tiic birthplace of Mr. MacDonald’s new Air Minister. Lord Ahiulree is one of thr.ee brother's, sons of a simple Scorie farmer, who made themselves known in the world. Besides Lord AmutreO there were . Sir James Mackenzie. London’s leading heart specialist, and Air. Robert Mackenzie’, a well-known.., Scots mihistei’. Both tlie, latter M’Pi now dead.. . .. ... AFGHAN KINCFS CORONATION. As yet no official iieW'S has bheii received that King Nadir feliah has been officially crowned as. King of Afghanistan. News takes time these tiirbiiloiis days on the frontier io penetrate through, and the Kabul Treasury is ao depleted of moneys that coronation ex : penses were reduced to a minimum, arid Royal and other visitors front Other lands teoul.d not be invited. The civil war and King .Amanull.ah’s pocket expenses when he left Afghanistan have made ’the new king a poor monarch; yet he has done k great deal, lately to pacify the. country. A “Lbi-.Zirga” has been'held in Kabul, at. which over 300 representative Afghans met to/agree as to the wishes of the people, and to instruct the Government how best to cary them'out. Thus the new King is getting together a sound adminisira.tiye machine, based oh popular needs. His gon, Prince Zahei- Jan, who is only 16 yhare old; is on his way from Paris to Afghanistan As in the criSe of . his father, Paris is hie European residence for education. PAMPAS OF POPPIES. For eleven months bf the year the exeervicri men who make the Remembrance poppies for Armistice Day are busily employed on that work. This year their output totals 40,000,000 poppies, all passed and hall-marked to defeat the contemptible enterprise of those alien dealers who attempt to foist forgeries bn the public, and thus tb rob the disabled soldiers of the Great War. The twelfth month of the year is utilised in packing and despatching the artificial- flowers all over the w-orld. In addition to these flowers; no fewer than 20,000 wreaths of Flanders poppies have been made for graves in British cemeteries abroad. It is an honourable fact that each successive year, despite hard times, the poppies bring in a bigger revrinii’e; and this November II the British Legion hopes to pass last year’s £500,000 record. I JHIBUTI. Jhibuti, where the Duke of Gloucester Will land to travel to the capital of the Ethiopian Empire, is one of the most arid spots it can be the misfortune bf white inen to have to live in. As the sea terminal of the Abyssinian railway, however, it is k port Of importance in French Somaliland, arid claims its quota of military and civil exiles from La Belle France. At midday —the hour when I chanced to visit it—it appears as a town of the dead, its onfe parblled and baking square of European houses having' their deep verandahs barred and shuttered in the sacred silence of siesta. Jhibuti boasts brie or two tawdry cafes, rind of evenings, I am told, it wakes up to a grotesque and Sofdid imitation of the lite of the boulevards. I refnember it best for two things. The pestiferous number bf sharks in the bay, and the most villainous-looking cUt-throat oi an Arab. He was a. fiacre driver, and drove me found to “see the sights.'’ He kept my nfrves on edge the whole time lest he should slay me ahd seize my wallet. When I paid hint off, he nearly fell upon fnV neck, and swore he was a brother Briton, who had Come across the water from Aden, and had no liking for •’Gb'darii Frenchecs.” LORD DUNDONALDz <

Ah old soldier who hai-p?ly‘sliowA lib signs of “fading away,” rind ,whb keeps life 791 h birthday this week, is the/Earl of Duridbhaid, whoße hahi'e was ml everybody’s lips 30 years ago, wll'eil he rode into Ladysmith at tire head of the relief column. Before distinguishing himself as a. cavalry leader in the Vjldt

War, after bur Aidershot .ijf&sb Hats hdd fhiibnsidefed tlibif burlier decision that it - woiild be bettdf to fight the WbiLifibuntbd BodrS Oil fo6t,»Lord Ditiidbfiald hitW rbhl feefvice at Abu KlCii and Genital, in the Kingdom of tile Nile. He wfiht .Bbraight ffOiii Eton into the Life: Guards a few ddys before aririy ptifehasb Waß abolished; Hfe'. gratidfpthei- whs the fahmtik Admiral Cochfanp wlip libdrhffedi Chili, and Lord Dufiddriald Inherits h& ihventive g'eniii's. The snioke Bcfeefij which it todk llie ■nkyy tfro yehrt Ip appteciatb, ivhs Ills bright idea.. ■ -A CHAUFFEUR TYPIST. The travelling 'inspector, of a litrgb miiliiple-shop concern has found a nifeanS di milking reports to liife Office on tW calls he pays to thd yafidiife brafich&B whilb His round is in progress. HO travels in a saloon chr, driveri by a. chiiuffeUr whO is alsd a typist, aiid has had /installed ifi ’the back a fiinbll lypOwritef Und a dictating , ihachihfe; After ffiakiiicr his fiffet call, ahd ■ being drivdfi to the next branch, life dipfateS his report iiito the ffistehinA While 116 fe ffihkifih hit nhxt inspection, the ch'auSeuh hops intb.thb b&eE Of the chf, Arid neatly transbribes the report by mtAris Of the typewriter;' By this system the report for the Vrhble day is ready ifi the Ovetiingi and the inspector does ridt have id cuftiil his chlls in older tb ledvb time to report. SOUVENIRS. it seeffifi incredible that a quarter of a century has. elapsed since the strenuous activities of the militant suffragists kept the police and printers busy, and the Albert HdlVwas packed with fervent femininity hurling wbeding-tings . and jewellery at their leader’s feet; But the lOhg flight of time is relentlessly emphaisised in. a small rdom ill. Victoria Street that holds the relies of those wild days. .Somehow they sfeem a pitiful little collection, these bits of cutlery marked frith prison arrows, a set of handcuffs, a pathetically rakish “General’s” cap And gold epaulettes cheek by jowl with chunks .of hal'd black prison bread. They have the air of 1 belonging to ■ some remote private--, theatricals occasion, of interest only to the players. The Great Writ has robbed them of ' historic limelight. SUBURBAN SHOOTING. I met a young man at dinner last night who was just back from a visit to Ireland, during which he had had some superb shooting. He had himself, ehot 20 snipe in one morning—a fair t g’of such difficult birds. He and the test of us, however, were greatly su'r■prlßed when one qf our fellow guests told us he had <shdt as riiahy snipe within bight miles of Charing Cross. It Beems that there are still eoriie “Wild” marshes at Mitcham which are carefully preserved, and .where the migratory snipe is to. be found in really considerable numbers. One can lunch in Piccadilly, shoot snipe for h riouple of hours in the afternoon, and be back in town for a cocktail at one’s club. HOT GOSPELLER? Something I saw in Fleet Strebt today made mb woiider whether I had encountered a. edrious type of religious mariihe, Or whether some cealous evangelical agency had embarked oh up-to-date publicity methods. Strolling nonchalantly aniid the crowds was a queer individual. Picture Bairitefather’s Old Bill, his frdirus moustache snow-white, dressed in a sporting suit, and you havd him to the life. He was minus a, collar, but wore round his neck a salmon-pink cilk handkerchief. His coat was mustard colour, and all down the ( back, printed in two-inch black lettering, were full-blooded Scriptural texts. Though perfectly sober, the evaligelist did not look like a confirmed prohibitionist. Possibly some original missionary society had commissioned him as a peripatetic taproom crusader. His back view would certainly cause a sensatio: in any §t?and bir, .