CURRENT LONDON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 5 January 1935, Page 12 (Supplement)

CURRENT LONDON TOPICS

RECRUITING ACTIVITIES APPEAL BY LORD HAILSHAM. TERRITORIAL STRENGTHENING.

(Special Correspondent.) London, Nov. 8. Lord Hailsham, as an old Imperial Yeoman with real campaigning experience, has been appealing to our post-war young men to join the Territorials. County associations are, I understand, to second the Minister’s appeal by renewed recruiting activities. One stumbling block is said to be the reluctance of some employers to grant facilities for their employees attending annual camps. But it is also suggested that the change in the regulations, whereby Territorials are liable to foreign service in emergency, may have much to do with the decline in recruiting during the past year. My own impression, with some opportunities of sounding London and provincial Territorial soldiers, is that the foreign service liability is not the snag at all. It is welcomed as putting the Territorial Army on a realistic footing. What most men do resent, however, is the official intimation that they may, if the powers that be so decree, not be allowed to serve with their own battalions or batteries, but be attached to strange “mobs.”

Mid-ocean Greeting to Duke. Mr. J. MacCallum Smith and Mr. H. K. Watson, the West Australian secessionist delegation now in London, exchanged wireless greetings with the Duke of Gloucester in. mid-ocean. Their liner bound for England passed H.M.S. Sussex with the Duke aboard on the high seas, and they sent a radio message to H.R.H., with mid-ocean greetings, expressing at the same time their deep regret that, they would not be privileged to take any part in his official reception, and predicting the warm welcome the Duke would receive in West Australia. The Duke replied with a' genial radio message, acknowledging their courtesy, and wishing bon voyage to the entire ship’s company aboard the liner. Besides being a member of the secessionist delegation, Mr. Watson is acting as King’s Messenger. When the secession petition was handed to the Governor of West Australia by the Prime Minister, Mr. P. Collier, the Governor, Sir James Mitchell, promptly decided to entrust the copy for King George to Mr. Watson’s custody.

Nover Way of Raising Funds. In a little over a week Jewish women at London have collected well over three thousand pounds as the nucleus of a fund which, may be drawn upon for the resettlement of German-Jewish women and children who find it impossible to remain in the country which gave them birth. The bulk of this sum has been raised by the sale of tickets for a luncheon at -which General Smuts and Lady Astor are to speak at London this week, each prospective guest having paid te/ guineas for his or her “cover” at t\e luncheon. This procedure was followed last year, when an appeal for £25,000 was made for the same object, and a similar sum is being asked for now with every confidence that it will be forthcoming. The money will be expended upon the transference for education and training in Palestine of as many children as possible. Statue Mystery.

. We may shortly have a chance to see an historic masterpiece by a famous sculptor, of which the. general public knows nothing. This is Antonio Canova’s colossal statue of Napoleon, for which “Le Petit Caporal” gave the. Italian master sittings in Paris in 1802 when he was First Consul. It took six years to complete the work, which was acquired by the British Government just after Waterloo, and presented to the Duke of Wellington. Exactly how we secured this work is rather a mystery. One version is that Louis XVIII. presented it to us, and another that, through our Paris Ambassador at the time, we purchased it for 66,000 francs. Anyhow, the statue has ever since adorned the spacious hall of Apsley. House, the nation’s gift to the Iron Duke, and, because it is the first mansion after Hyde Park Comer, christened by Mr. E. V. Lucas “No. 1 London.” Canova’s work would certainly attract great interest if publicly shown.

March of the Talkies. In these days the old order changes more rapidly than ever before. It is only six years since the film world was startled by the sudden advent of the talkies. At first the intruders were treated with a mixture of incredulity and contempt. But the talkie has made an all-conquering march. To-day there are, out of nearly five thousand picture houses in this country, only two that remain consistently loyal to the old order of silent films. One of these is in New-castle-and the other in the Orkneys. How long even these die hards among cinemas can still keep the silent flag flying begins to be a question of some doubt. They say the supply of new silent films is now quickly drying up, and that a day must arrive when there will be no more of them available for anybody. Yet the curious fact remains that quite a proportion of cinema fans still prefer the old order. Bedouins in Picture.

A remarkable collection of photographs illustrating Bedouin life is now being shown at a London art gallery. The photographs are by Mr. Carl Raswhn, a European, who has lived for years amongst these romantic nomads of the Arabian desert, and been almost an adopted member of one of the most powerful Bedouin tribes. Not only are the photographic pictures exceedingly interesting in themselves, as intimate studies revealing the life of a strange and ancient people, but they possess the tragic value attaching to records of a vanishing race. The Bedouin has survived, hardly changed in methods of life, through many centuries of European development, but he is now slowly but surely sharing the fate of America’s Red Indian. I suppose the internal combustion engine, which has wrought so many great changes in the world at large, is. mainly instrumental in the twilight destiny of these interesting nomads. Even the most impenetrable of human citadels are now being opened up by modern transport methods. Soon even the prehistoric Bedouin may become “air-minded.”

Raymond Poincare. Poincare’s death at the age of 74 leaves Marshal Weygand as sole survivor of France’s big men of the Great War. Well did the little provincial lawyer, insignificant in appearance and voice, with none of the theatrical glamour of big personality, earn his title of Lion of Lorraine. He twice saved France from irreparable disaster, once during the darkest hour of the war, when defeatism was rampant and all but Foch urged retreat and a second evacuation of Paris, and again after the war, when the franc was galloping to perdition and bankruptcy stared France in the face. His courage and address in carrying through a sweeping economy scheme then, and putting the franc firmly on its feet, amounted almost to a second miracle. Enemies spitefully alleged that Poincare had a matrimonial vendetta against the Germans, but his determined policy, long before the 1914 explosion, of preparing for another 1870 dated further back than that.

Resolute Patriot. Poincare was a schoolboy in Lorraine when the Germans swept through his native vineyards, and he never forgot chat bitter experience. His settled ambition was to link up France by the Entente with Russia and Britain against history repeating itself. His patriotism showed itself when, at the supreme crisis of the war, he made a strong Ministry possible by consenting to serve under Clemenceau, his bitterest foe outside Germany. What Lord Haldane did for the British Army, Poincare was largely instrumental in doing for the French- He caused it to be modernised and maGe more of an efficient - machine of national defence. He played no small part in securing those, famous 75 guns that helped to stem the pickelhauben tide in 1914. He was almost a recluse in private life, hating all social functions, avoiding dinner parties, a non-smoker, and almost a teetotaller. As Minister he worked hard at his desk from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. France has had more picturesque figures who were far less devoted.

Mr. MacDonald and Seaham. Why it should be announced now-that Mr. MacDonld is determined to contest Seaham again at the next general election it is hard to guess. There is not much chance of the general election coming before the middle of the year after next, and in the interim almost anything might happen. If the party alignment remains as ij, now exists, and the Prime Minister’s health holds good, no doubt he will fight Seaham, where he has still far many more admirers, and friends than detractors, but who is to guarantee either of these factors? Great fears were entertained at the last general election that Mr. MacDonald would lose his seat at Seaham, but with a courage that did him great credit he refused to desert his old constituency even to seek return in a safe one. By that action the Prime Minister gained much prestige in many quarters, and incidentally saved the National Labour group from much derision on the part of its political enemies. When it comes to election fighting Mr. MacDonald is no pacifist.

Barcelona. It is hard to imagine Barcelona, with its busy streets and cafes, sunshine and gaiety, as a centre of revolutionary warfare. But it was formerly the capital of the vanished Kingdom of Catalonia, and still cherishes fervent home rule ambitions which have made it a political storm centre for ages. Philip V built ramparts round the city, like those by Vauban at Yyres with which our khaki warriors of the Great War were familiar, but these have given place to pretty villas, whose cellars are the old rampart moat. The cathedral dates back to 1298, and has the finest stained glass in all Spain. It was in the 12th and 13th centuries Barcelona reached its zenith, and rivalled Genoa and Venice. It gave us the first maritime code. Roman writers say it was founded by the Carthagenians, and called Barcino after Hamilcar Barca. Its streets have known Roman, Moorish, and French invaders, not to mention Spanish, but Barcelona manages to keep merry and bright between whiles. “

Old Harrovian. Lord Cusheridun is dead at the age of 73. He was in all respects a typical Ulsterman. He stood six feet six without his boots, took a serious view of life, and his politics bordered on the explosive.. He was, however, a most genial fellow "off,” as the actors say, and had friends galore. Though he started his career as a journalist, and edited a once famous London evening journal, he was a barrister by profession, and a politician only by geographical inclination. He is still best remembered as the M.P. who,- as Mr. Ronald McNeill, once hurled a book at Mr. Winston Churchill soon after the latter had crossed the floor at Westminster. One London paper stated that the book—ironically enough a copy of the Standing Orders—cut Mr. Churchill’s face. Actually it did not hit him at all, but was what the Iron Duke called “a damn near thing.” Half a century earlier Mr. McNeill bowled for Harrow against Eton at Lord’s, a match his school won easily, and perhaps that partly explains the sudden impulse. It was later in his career, when he went to the Foreign Office, that- Lord Cushendun blossomed out as a first-rate diplomatist. Car Cruisers.

To the general public not the least interesting part of the motor exhibition this year is the display of motor caravans. These made me want to take to the road immediately. Some have completely passed out of the mere caravan ' stage, and are described as car cruisers. Each is a miracle of design, providing all that is wanted in the smallest space. The door opens into two distinct cabins, the sleeping quarters being on the right, while on the left the living-room gives the impression of a comfortable lounge. AU kitchen arrangements are hidden... Electric light, running water from a tank, and convenient lockers are among the amenities offered. Inside one might be in the private quarters of a smaU but very luxurious yacht. The marine section of the exhibition shows clearly the stimulus given to marine bullers by the exploits of Miss England. The models range from the small speedboat, whose cockpit with leather-upholstered seats is ' identical with that of a sports car, to the stately deep-sea launch with twin screws and two tall masts.