LEITER FROM LONDON

Taranaki Daily News, 17 October 1931, Page 14 (Supplement)

LEITER FROM LONDON

NEWS FROM THE HOMELAND. THE POLITICAL CRISIS. (From Our London Correspondent? London, August 27. ‘ The political crisis through which . the country has been passing has moved with extraordinary rapidity. After some days of anxiety, during which 'Mr. Ramsay MacDonald' made many futile efforts, to bring his old Labour Cabinet round to recognition of the need of the most drastic economies if the national balance sheet was to be righted, the Government fell. There have been comings and.goings for days; one Cabinet meeting followed another in rapid succession. There were party conferences almost every day, and even Sunday was a day of extraordinary activity in Downing Street. The public had hardly recovered from the excitement of the fall of the Labour Government before the newspapers were filled with the arrangements for the formation of a new National Government with Mr. MacDonald at its head. It is an open secret that the formation of this Ministry was directly due to the initiative of King George himself. There is, indeed, nothing but praise for the part which the Sovereign has played in the crisis. On the whole the personnel of the new Government meets with general approbation. As far as possible the Ministers have been sent to posts with which they are already familiar. It was thought at one time that Lord Reading would be Secretary of State for India. He has; been nominated instead to the Foreign Office—an imposing appointment. Sir Samuel- Hoare, who has played a. very prominent part with Air. Neville Chamberlain in all his negotiations with the Government, goes to the India Office. Mr. Baldwin has a portfolio to which administrative work does'not attach, an arrangement which will leave him free to co-operate with Mr. MacDonald in getting the financial proposals through Parliament in face of the violent opposition which is expected from the Labour extremists who have broken away from Mr. MacDonald’s leadership. TACTICS VERSUS COUNTRY. Ostensibly what cause., the Labour Cabiiiet’s resignation was the firm refusal of many Ministers to listen to any suggestion of economising on the dole. Those who took this attitude are now fulminating against those former Ministerial colleagues who have accepted office in the new National Ministry. Prominent amongst the fulminators is Mr. Arthur Henderson, who has long given the impression that he was challenging Mr. MacDonald’s leadership, and will now;.it is quite likely, succeed him as leader of the official Labour Party. But these artifices will deceive only the utter groundlings. The real reason why these members of the late Cabinet refused to hear of the dole cuts or to serve in a National Mi listry is because, though fully aware of the painful necessity for such measures, they prefer that the onus of carying them out should fall on other shoulders, DOWNING STREET SCENES. The crowds in Downing Street were larger and more excited at the beginning of the week than at any time during the war. Most of them appeared to be of the Labour persuasion, and the general tone may be judged from the action of one woman. She dashed forward when members of -’he late Cabinet were leaving No. 10 and shouted dramatically- “Where is the man who has betrayed his country?” But there were comic interludes as well. The motor van of a famous dye firm drove up to No. 10,- and the crowd observed with laughter that it bore the slogan, “Save Whilst You Spend.” Mr. MacDonald was much in evidence. To the astonishment of admirers, who know how he has conformed to the best Savile Row sartorial canons, he wore a tail-coat with a bowler hat, and smoked a pipe. But perhaps, in the circumstances, his usual cigar and topper would nave been, more than some Labour politicians could (stand. ECONOMY AND TAXATION. The formation of a National Government means, of course, that the balancing of the Budget will proceed drastically, but on the true lines of equal sacrifice for all. The late Labour Ministry’s scheme was mainly drafted, by Whitehall experts, and will probably be adopted in the form Mr. MacDonald and Air. Snowden wished, but which their colleagues and supporters opposed. It implies, therefore, that economies will more than equal new taxation. Probably immense saving can be effected without curtailing payments much merely by tightening up the dole against scandalous and flagrant abuses, but we must expect also some addition to income tax, probably increased beer and tobacco duties, most likely a substantial increase in entertainment tax, and other unpleasant reminders that we have outrun the financial constable. AMERICA'S BROAD HINT. We may hope the new Ministry will do something to restore the prestige and tradition of British statesmanship, because it is now known that the real impetus -that checked our national rake’s progress, and led up to the sensational events that ushered in the cooperative Cabinet, came from America, It was an intimation by New York to London that renewed credits to bolster up the British pound must depend on reform of our unemployment finances which set things happening last week in Downing Street. So we have not even the credit of having taken the first action towards arresting our own mad career. Labour extremist.- are furious at what they call New York’s “dictation,” but surely guarantors are entitled to stipulate reasonable conditions. CABINET’S TASK. The amazing mystery will always be how our political leaders ever allowed the national situation to dr.it so near to disaster. The estimate of Sir George May's Economy Committee, which was a Budget deficit of £120,000.000, is extremely optimistic. It may well be nearer £200,000,000. The task chat faces Mr. MacDonald’s new Cabinet is how to meet that appalling emergency. Even though economics all round produce a saving of £100,000,000, there will be a huge deficit still to be made good by additional taxation. To continue to think in terms of party tactics in this situation is either treason to democracy or sheer Marxian madness. “Socialism in our time’’ has come perilously near “National bankruptcy now.” The brake has been put on only just in the nick of time. We may, even though it is an American brake, be thankful for that. NAVAL MISHAP. H.M.S. Emperor of India, accidentally sunk off Bognor Regis a couple of months ago, has been refloated and towed into Portsmouth. A survey of the ship leaves no doubt, a bout, the dc-U-ruitive nature of the new projectiles

which hit her. .She had been selected as a target ship for experimental firing with a new kind of shell, and the intention of the authorities was to try the effect of these missiles on the superstructure. But Hie naval gunners did their work too well, inflicting terrific damage below the water tine, with the result that, after comparatively tew shots, the vessel began to settle down. The Emperor of India, though far from having completed her allott'd sea span, was ouo of the several still serviceable battleships marked down for scrapping. The Admiralty had no thought of sinking her r and thus losing what she would fetch from the shipbreakers. Somebody has been severely carpeted for the mishap. Salvage operations must have cost between £30.000 and £40,000, but a comfortable profit will still be realised by her sale. . IS THERE. A LIMIT? . Actual.experience of racing Schneider Trophy seaplanes at about 400 miles an horn- is modifying some earlier predictions by flying experts. At six miles a minute, which our' pilots now achieve, turning 'the machine risks temporary unconsciousness. Centrifugal action drains the blood from the brain. Even in straight flights, and in a padded cockpit, pilots get black and blue from bruises. Yet we were told, once highaltitude. flight problems of thinner atmosphere were solved, machines might touch 1000 miles an hour. Limitless though mechanical progress seems, experienced pilots are now coming to the conclusion that wc may already have approached the limit of human possibility.. Scientists said, rvlien the steam engine was invented, that 20 miles an hour wpuld be a fatal speed. We now do 20 times 20. FROM DESERT TO CLOSE. Cambridge University will recruit a distinguished new disciple when the autumn term begins. This is none other ■than Mr.’’Bertram Thomas, the explorer who recently crossed .the great desert of Arabia. It was in 1916 that Mr. Thomas, who was just an officer in a Territorial battalion, first went East. A junior subaltern when he first set foot in Egypt, he was a political officer 12 months later, and his experiences since then include being chief adviser to two Emirs and a sort of State Chancellor to the Sultan of Muscat. This tall athletic man of nearly 40, as he is now, who lias tramped leagues of desert 'where no other white man’s foot has trodden, is now seeking academic peace in college closes. Mr. Thomas and Mr. T. E. Lawrence are vastly different people, but both share a flair for Arab psychology. WIRELESS SUPERSTITION. . It is amazing how widespread is the superstition that our admittedly bad weather may be due to wireless. A great scientist has asserted that all the wireless of the world's transmitting stations in one year exerts less atmospheric disturbance than a single flash of lightning. Despite such sedatives from the experts, the man in the street, and the woman in the back parlour or the front drawing-room, cling to the wireless weather belief as many people did to the theory that the 191-1-1 S gun barrage caused all the rain during that period. Now, to give the laity real perturbation, some daring scientists arc talking of harnessing even the lightning. It is calculated that, the world over, 100 flashes ■ of lightning occur every second, and that, properly stored and utilised they would do the world’s work like Arabian Nights genii of the lamp. BOSTOCKS AND WIIIPSNADE. . The general regret which will be fell at the intention of the present owner of Bostock and Wombwell’s Menagerie, Mr. E. H. Bostock, of Glasgow, to disband his famous establishment, is tempered by the fact that the whole of the stock, including some of the finest groups of lions in captivity, has been acquired by the Whipsnade Zoo. At present the menagerie is on tour in Norfolk, and, after 126 rears of travel throughout the country, it will cease to exist at the close of the Glasgow Carnival next January. It has exhibited before royalty on many occasions, notably in the quadrangle 01. Windsor Castle in'lS47 and 18’54, as well as at the Crystal Palace during the summer and for ove\" 40 years at the Agricultural Hall. 'Phe illustrated catalogue issued shows how splendidly Whipsnade will be enriched, now that none of the- family wishes to carry the business on. But if there happen tobe any lion-lights in the future, such as that which occurred at, Warwickon July 26, 1825, no guinea, ticket will be issued! AERIAL NIGHTS. "When a friend from the countrycomes to see me nowadays, and-wants to be entertained in a new and original way, I never hesitate! I fix an afternoon when the barometer looks fairly promising, and waltz him or her off to Croydon. We have to pay a small entrance fee, as for any other outdoor show, but wc arc sure of getting more than our money’s worth. Wc take tea in comfortable deckchairs on the pleasant roof cafe of the Aerodrome Hotel. All around are the still novel activities of aviation up-to-date. We sec the great air-liners zoom off into the ewigkoit, and watch the small air dinghies flop about. We study the air-travel psychology and sartorial gctuip of a most cosmopolitan crowd of wealthy trippers. And as night descends we are bewitched by beam lights and twinkling aerial stars. And I am an honoured host without moving from my deck-chair. NAVAL SOUVENIRS. The recent escapades of some midshipmen recall two amusing instances of trophy-raiding by young naval officers. Surviving midshipmen of the ’sixties will remember that in Devonport’s main thoroughfare there was an ironmonger’s shop over which hung the sign, of a dog drinking from a pot. To acquire the trophy had been the unsuccessful aspiration of many gunrooms, for it was strongly made of iron and firmly fixed. One night an omnibus was procured and driven round to the shop, drawing up immediately beneath the coveted sign, which was then securely lashed to the vehicle. The midshipman driver whipped up his horses, blit drove away minus part of the top of his bus, 'which remained lashed, to the trophy. That is believed, to be the last attempt made on this particular attraction. The other incident concerned a Portsmouth optician’s shop, outside which hung a little figure of a midshipman looking through a quadrant. This was carried off by a party of revellers from a man o’ war, and, alter a cruise round the world, was safely restored to the owner. PLUCKY GERMAN PROFESSOR. We ought to be grateful to Professor Hermann Kantorowicz, who has the chair of law at Kiel University, lor the courageous manner in which he tells his countrymen the truth in “The Spirit of British Policy.” The distinguished author was on the German Commission appointed to investigate the real origins of Hie Great War, and his verdict, ■ founded on immense research and ainazi inply di.-jiasnionaic reasoning, is that 1 the British were entirely iimuceut til

war guilt. Originally Professor Kantorowirz shared the prevalent German theory, assiduously cultivated by the Kaiser and his coterie, that we were the villains of the drama, and bent on the diplomatic “encirclement” of Germany. He now rejeclfi that view conclusively, and. gives his overwhelming reasons. TERRITORIAL ARMY RUGGER. It is hoped during the coming football season the Territorial Army will be able to take part in the annual interservice Rugby championships. The suggestion was put forward bust year, too late to make the necessary arrangements, though a mutch was fixed up with a representative army team, resulting in . narrow victory for the Territorials. This year a more ambitious scheme is in the making. The Territorials have a wealth of available material. As regards actual playing strength the Territorial Army can probably call upon a greater number of famous players than any of the other services. This is hardly surprising, when it has the whole of its personnel at hand, whereas the Regular Forces are spread over the four corners of the globe. There are at least four internationals serving in the Territorials, besides many other excellent players, university and public school men, who have made rugger names for themselves. A NEW TERROR. Tlie popularity of the speed-boat was sealed once the Prince of \\ ales eaught the fever. But now sp ■cd-boating is going to be brought within the reach of almost poor people. There is a new midget engine coining on the market, which weighs 33 pounds, docs 3000 revolutions a minute, and runs two hours on half a gallon of petrol. This works out at no more than 3d an hour for all the thrills and .hazards of full-blooded I spefld-boating. The cost of the new midget engine is, I hear, to lie £26. From the real boating river-mans point of liew, tlie outlook is thoroughly disenchanting. The best readies of tlie ’Thames will doubtless soon be like the Brighton Road. But presumably there •is an utilitarian side to tlie new engine as well, and possibly it may bring hope to sonic drooping coastwise industiics.