LONDON LETTER

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18546, 21 August 1928, Page 11

LONDON LETTER

Political Sensation Horse Show Statesmen’s Pay— Biff Dock—Lord Lonsdale—The Victory —Racing at Ascot.

* (Special to the. “Star.”) LONDON, June 28. Tha Labour Split. The open breach between the two sections of the Labour Party, which is the political sensation of the week, has long been anticipated by Parliamentary observers. The Labour Party has always been composed of two sections, the trades unionists and the Socialists, witb views varying from moderate Socialism to something approaching Com-, munism. It was Mr Ramsay MacDonald's great triumph that he managed for some time to weld the two groups and give the paFty an appearance of solidity that it did not really possess. The trades union Labour members always tended to look at questions from the point of view of hours and yvages. They were anxious to get the best terms they could for the workers in their particular industry, and were not. very vitally concerned with what might be happening outside their own industry, nor did they trouble much about political theories. They concerned themselves rather with results. Apart from the stampede of the General Strike and the temporary aberration of the Miners’ Federation under the guidance of Mr Cook, the trades unionist movement within the Labour Party has been on the whole Conservative.. The trades union mem had in addition their own definite responsibilities towards their unions, and while they might approve a certain course of political action in theory, they might well oppose it in practice if they thought it would have a prejudicial reaction on trades unionism and trades union finances. It is not, therefore, surprising that the eager spirits of the left wing of the Labour Party should have chafing at the inertia of the right wing, and should have finally broken away. "Socialism in Our Time.” Neither Mr Thomas nor Mr Ramsay MacDonald expresses any belief, in the possibility of “Socialism in our time." but Mr Maxton, Mr Wheatley and Mr Cook think it can be done. The strength of the trades union and moderate element in the Labour Party is shown by the decision to continue the negotiations of the employers for putting industrial peace on something like a permanent basis. The left wing has thus received a severe rebuff, and it remains to be seen how many recruits Mr Maxton is going to get. Mr Maxton is an extremist, but his sincerity has never been called in question, and he has shown very considerable political capacity. I can hardly imagine that he would have broken suddenly into revolt unless he had been assured of a certain measure of support. An open conflict of opinion in the ranks of the Labour Party within a year of a General Election is not very promising for the chances gf . the party at the polls, and these new developments are being watched with the keenest interest by the Liberal Party. Tf the split does develop then there would be some chance of co-operation between Liberals and the Labour trades unionists. Britain Wins King's Cup.

After the most' exciting contest o recent years, the King's Gold Cup wa won by England at the Internationa Horse Show at Olympia, London, whei the King and Queen, accompanied b; Princess Mary, witnessed the re preset tatives of four nations—Great Britair

France, Belgium and Japan—compete -or the trophy. The Queen wore a dress of pale blue with a cream and gold brocade cloak, and a pale blue and silver toque. Princess Mary was in a green dress and a green hat, and the King, in morning dress, wore, as usual, a white carnation in his button-hole. Before entering the Royal box the King and Queen shook hands and chatted with Lord Lonsdale, who received them, and with the officers who were contestants in the gold cup competition. The contest is one of the most exciting in the show, the jumps being difficult. Lieutenant X. Bizard, the holder, again entered with “Quinine,” the horse on which he won last year. It was Japan s first appearance at the Show. The cup was first won by Russia in 1911. and it has also gone to Belgium. Italy, and the United States, as well as to Great Britain. Lieutenant-Colonel Malise Graham, with his famous twentv-five-year;old horse “Broncho," won it for this country three years ago, and as both horse and rider were again entered, particular interest was centred in them. Captain Yo&hida, of Japan, with a cheery smile, dashed round the jumps on “Kiuzan,” and looked like having a perfect round until the last jump, where he lost points. He was loudly cheered by the many spectators, the Royal party joining in the demonstration. After a thrilling contest the cup was won by England, the winner being Captain J. H. Dudgeon, of the Royal Scots Greys, on “Forty Six,” a bay gelding exhibited by Lieutenant A. G. Martyr, of the same regiment. The King, with Lord Lonsdale, went down into the arena and presented Captain Dudgeon with his trophy, ana also congratulated Lieutenant- Bizafd and Lieutenant-Colonel Graham, who tied for second place. The Royal party spent about two and a half hours at the Show.

Pay cf Statesmen and Others. The time is appropriate for at least an inquiry into the salary and emoluments of Mr Speaker, and also of those attaching »to the office, not of Prinie Minister, for there is no such office in the technical sense, but of the First Lord of the Treasury, which post it is customary for the Prime Minister to hold.

It may be doubted whether the process ol' examining and reporting on the pay of Cabinet Ministers, and holders of other offices under the Crown can be comprehensively dealt with at a time of financial stringency. Besides, if so wide a question is embarked upon the judges, admittedly underpaid, will want to come within the scope of the inquiry. Their remuneration is by common consent a public scandal. Five thousand a year, less incometax, is not an inducement to distinguished and successful barristers to leave lucrative practices at the Bar in order to administer justice.. Yet, there ought to be every inducement for the cleverest lawyers’of the day tp accept judicial preferment instead of waiting until their practices begin to decline or a, slump, occurs in litigation. Take the position of the Attorney-General for example. The last figures published regarding the remuneration of the Senior Law Officer revealed fees of £42,000 a year. Sir Thomas Inskip would think twice before he would accept a £SOOO a vear post despite the fact that the At’torney-GeneraJship is dependent upon the life of a Government, and might at any moment be lost in the misfortune of a disastrous .general election. Sir Thomas at one time had ambitions for the. Speakership, but who would expect him to sacrifice £37,000 a vear or thereabouts in order to please and serve the House of Commons?

The Speaker receives his £SOOO a vear free of income tax, an important consideration in times like these, and he also has an official residence in the Palace of Westminster, with a number of perquisites such as free light, free coal, and various other things. A pension of £4OOO a year also belongs to the office.

World’s Biggest Dock. An impressive picture of naval might was witnessed by those watchers on the Tyne who observed the departure to its home at the new naval base at Singapore of the principal section of the 50.0(KMon floating dock. Over 20.000 tons of steel and three and a half million rivets are in the complete dock, and it will accommodate the largest warships. The .middle section, which was despatched on its 8600-miles’ tow this week, contains the machinery for operating the dock, and it has a towage weight ol 12,350 tons. A director of the firm of builders, who was on board the tug Gauntlet, which accompanied the dock, said, “The only trouble is keeping her off a lee shore. She cannot capsize, and with plenty of sea room she can ride out any storm.” Against excessively bad weather or exceptional emergency during the voyage, arrangements have been made so that the dock may remain stationary untiL conditions improve, by the provision of two s£-ton anchors and windlass. As an additional safeguard two divers with complete diving apparatus are on board. Four of the most powerful tugs in the world, provided by a Dutch firm notable for this typo of equipment, were in attendance, while two other Dutch and three Tyne tugs hung on astern to- assist in steering the huge mass. Everybody cheered or waved, and the greeting was heartily returned by the syrens of the tugs. Crossing the -bar a stop was signalled. And in that brief halt was definitely appreciated the strength and power encompassed by these great walls of steel towering high between and above the two piers. Against its monstrous proportions all other objects in the marine picture were dwarfed into insignificance. The dock is due at its destination near Singapore about November 14, the average speed of the tow being about three miles an hour. A Great Sportsman.

An outstanding figure of the day is the Earl of Lonsdale, to whom a remarkable tribute was paid by British sportsmen in all parts of the’world on the occasion of his golden wedding, when the Prince of Wales handed him a cheque of £30.000 in recognition •of his long and honourable connection with many branches, of sport. That princely sum Lord Lonsdale will devote to 'the founding of a hospital to meet the special needs of men who have close associations with sport,. As a member of the Jockey Club, Lord Lonsdale is very closely identified with racing, and in his youth, years before his own Barony Races, was known as a keen patron af racing, a skilled (and successful) steeplechase rider, and a fox-hunter of outstanding ability. For a good many years he had only moderate success as an owner of

! racehorses, and it was not until 1907 that, he won the Devonshire Plate at Carlisle, followed in 1910 by the event “which probably afforded him as great a pleasure as the securing of more important prizes—-the winning of the Cumberland Cup with Malayr. His greatest success was, of course, when Royal Lancer won the 1922 St Leger. his Lordship having leased the horse from the National Stud. Since 1911 nine of his horses have won stakes of the total value of over £34,000. In the opinion of many sporting men and women Lord Lonsdale’s greatest achievements w'er-e as a Master, of Ilounds. lie rode to hounds from boy'hood, and possibly even then he may have had ambitions to reach the highest position in the world ofc field sports. At any rate he lived to sec it recorded by the' great authority, “Thormanby,” in his book, “Kings of the Hunt,” that “Hugh Cecil, fifth Earl of Lonsdale, is the most brilliant sportman this ancient line has produced.” From the days of his boyhood Lord Lonsdale was a devotee of boxing, and it was largely through his efforts that the National Sporting Club was founded, with the Lonsdale Belt as the chief trophy for annual competition. His wonderful grounds at Lowther Castle are open to the public throughout the year. Colonial Institute.

The diamond jubilee of tho foundation of the Royal Colonial Institute falls next week, and it is to be celebrated by a social gathering and a

chance of name. The first meeting was held in the historic Willis’s Rooms —long since departed —in 1868, and at first the institution was called the Colonial Society.

Imperial developments during sixty years have put the use of the word “colony,” and its derivatives out of favour, and in future the Royal Colonial Institute is to be called the Royal Empire Society. Its club-house in Northumberland Avenue makes a welcome and most useful meeting-ground in London for overseas visitors, and many friendships are made and ripened there. One of the amenities of the clubhouse is a splendid library, containing nearly 200,000 volumes. Testimony to the value of this library has been given by a decision of the' Carnegie Trustees to grant £3OOO towards the cost of preparing a printed catalogue. In connection with the diamond jubilee, the librarian, Mr Evans Lewin, has arranged a display of some of the more interesting and valuable books and maps. The atlases show a curious discontinuity in geographical knowledge. The earliest cartographers, depending often on tradition and hearsay, sometimes anticipated the discoveries of explorers, and their maps occasionally are fuller and more accurate than others prepared by later and more strictly conscientious map-makers. Frederick de Wit, for example, in the seventeenth century, made the Nile flow from two large lakes in the centre of Africa—not a bad approximation to the truth. Later, in 1722, Guillaume de Lisle, geographer to Louis XV., put in a lake where Lake Tanganyika was discovered, and had the Zambesi correctly placed. But in the. nineteenth century another French geographer, De la Rochette, cautiously omitted all but a small piece of water near the position of Lake Nyasa. From that point the maps begin to draw only upon the accurate information of actual exploration, and the story of discovery in Africa and in other continents can be followed in the gradual disppearace of blank spaces on the maps.

Tho Victory’s Last Home. Almost everything in the great work of repair of Nelson’s flagship 11.M.5. Victory has been completed: Shipshape in black and red paint, with all her forest of ropes trim and taut, she stands in Portsmouth dockyard propped on iron cradles in a dry berth. She will never float again. As she lies now in her permanent cradle, the graceful lines of her keel, all sheathed in copper, may be seen, and her bowsprit—although she is a dwarf among the steel giants that float a few yards away—towers high over the roof of the Admiral Superintendent’s office. Nekson’s own quarters are completed, and his state-room has been panelled. Devis’s famous and historically correct picture of the Admiral's death is now placed in the cockpit on the lower gun deck as near as it is possible to tell to the spot where Nelson died. The whole work of restoration has been directed to the saving of this great relic, and in refitting the Society for Nautical Research has gone to considerable pains to ensure that the Victory shall appear just as she did in Nelson's day. To reproduce the exact Victory on which Nelson died has meant an enormous task for the society. The fact that •they have succeeded so well is largely due to the work of Professor Geoffrey Callender, the renovation cost approaching £IOO,OOO. Twenty seamen and twenty marines live aboard her, and these line days many of them sling their hammocks from the old beams of her upper gun deck. The Prince of Wales will go aboard to-day, and on Julv 17 the King will unveil a commemorative tablet on her upper gun deck. The Everyman Theatre “ in Danger.” The directors of that most enterprising nursery of dramatic art, the Everyman Theatre at Hampstead, have sent out a notice making known that there is a danger of the theatre closing unless one of two reinforcements is forthcoming—either a little better public support or a comparatively small financial backing. The matter of financial backing is one which few people could supply. The alternative is intended as an appeal to a wider public. What the directors ask for is an increase of audiences by 'one-third. The fortunes of the Everyman fluctuate considerably. Often its productions are successful, botff artistically and financially, but there are ,lean patches,* and the average result is a small financial deficit annually. The total of the deficit for the past seven vears is less than half the sum recently lost on the production of an unsuccessful musical coinedv at a West End theatre, and the directory, therefore, are able to give assurances that a quite moderate response to their appeal will avert the threatened “ danger.” The Everyman is run on economical lines. Its average running cost is about £250 a week, and its “ capacitytakings are valued at about £SOO a week. The trouble is that capacity is not regularly enough tested. 1 he policy at the Everyman is to cultivate a high standard of dramatic work Inalternating plavs of established reputation with new ones by young authors and actors of promise. The Last Day of Ascot. The fourth apd last day of Ascot was one of the most pleasant of the whole meeting. The weather remained fine, and warm enough to justify the wearing of summery frocks, and moving about in the enclosure and paddock was a great deal easier than on the previous day's. To evervone's delight, the King and Queen, with the Prince of Wales and his bachelor brothers, came to the. final day's racing, and once again the Duke and Duchess of York and Princess Mary, with Viscount Lascelles, joined the Royal party'. The Queen was in silver. Her toque was of plain silver tissue, folded and finished with a diamond brooch. Her coat of silver tissue was brocaded with Chinese designs in blues and pinks, and a wide fringe in blue and pink silk hung from the cuffs

and at the end of the scarf collar. The Duchess of York had a cherry red Bangkok straw hat with a cluster of clover in red and cream on the tjpm and underneath it. Her dress was of cherry and white crepe de chine, and over this she wore a long beige coat. Princess Mary kept on a long tailor-made grey cloth coat, beneath which one caught glimpses of a pretty blue and pink flowered chiffon dress. Her hat was of stitched black tulle bound with black ribbon. Lady Patricia Ramsay was in a raspberry-red figured crepe, with waxed water-lilies in red and white on her red hat, and Lady Helena Gibbs was in grey with a black hat. Lady Doris Vyner, who, with her husband, was a member of the Royal party, was in black and white, and Lady Manton looked very handsome in navy blue with a silver fox fur. Lady Ravensdale had knotted a yellow and black checked triangular scarf round her shoulder over a navy blue crepe suit, and Lady Alexandra Metcalfe chose stone grey for her coat, with a beige felt hat. Lady Rachel Howard was in beige kasha, and the Hon Mrs Rupert Beckett was in figured brown and red crepe with a brown coat, and brown coarse straw hat.