LONDON LETTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18960, 6 January 1930, Page 3

LONDON LETTER.

The Vacant Seat—The New “ Father of the House ” Women M.P.’s as Debaters— Our Fallen Heroes—A Wonderful Relic—An Air Derby.

(Special to the “Star.”) LONDON, November 21. The House of Commons will miss “ T.P.” Although Hr O'Connor has only been once to Westminster during the present Parliament for the purpose of taking the oath, it is only comparativeI recently that 1. - been laid aside, and to a very large number of members it will be a strange thing to think th-*t he will never more be seen in the corner seat on the second bench below the gangway. Technically, perscriptive rights to seats are not recognised by the House, but in practice such rights grow up. and the House does not countenance any attempt to upset an established claim to some particular seat. It would have certainly resented any attempt to oust Mr T. P. O’Connor from the seat which had become his. But “T.P.” was well able to look after himself. He tolerated no nonsense. A majestic wave of the hand was generally sufficient to drive off the intruder, but, if necessary “T.P.” was ready for stronger measures. Pie found one day that a member had staked out a claim on his seat by leaving his hat and a number of papers on the sacred spot. Without a second's hesitation Mr O'Connor sat down on the lot. lie was not a light weight, and he reduced the hat to the condition of the papers. The intruder did not venture to complain. The New “Father of the House.” Although a great Parliamentarian. “T.P.” was never very prominent in debate. Throughout his long career he was always journalist-quite as much ac the M P

His knowledge, however, of the moods and thought of the House under widely-varying conditions was great, and his advice was eagerly sought by young members. That ad vice was always forthcoming, and it was seasoned with wit and wisdom. Rather to the surprise of the House, Mr Lloyd George becomes its “ Father.’ That proud distinction has nothing to do with years, but only with uninterrupted tenure—not necessarily as representative of the same contituency Since he entered the House for Carnarvon Boroughs, Mr Lioyd George has never been “in the wilderness,” but he has sat for the same seat all the time The runner-up is Sir Austen Chamberlain, who also has never been “in the wilderness,” but has changed his seat When his father died it seemed only natural that he should transfer himself to West Birmingham, with which Joseph Chamberlain had had such a long and unbroken association. Women M.P.’s as Debaters. There could be no greater contrast between the debating styles of any two members of the House of Commons than between the methods of Lady Astor and Miss Rathbone. The contrast was marked in the discussion this week on a Conservative amendment to the Widows’ Pensions Bill —an amendment designed to limit the new class of beneficiaries at the age of fifty-five to “necessitous” widow's, a necessitous person being one with an income of less than £250. Lady Astor was not only as spright ly as usual, but as discursive iij her comments on pensionable widows who

might have inherited a fortune, and her plea for poor women who could get nothing. Seldom is a member so often called to order for irrelevancy. “I am a simple woman,” Lady Astor exclaimed when told from the Treasury Bench that she did not understand the Bill, but by her pertinacity she sorely tried the chairman of committees while she amused the House. Miss Rathbone, who spoke from the far end of an Opposition bench, was, on the other hand, concise, pointed, and direct in style. According to Mr Greenwood, the amendment, which was ultimately rejected, would involve the periodical examination of half a million widows, with the probable exclusion of only 1 per cent. The force of this objection was adn ’ ted by Miss Rathbone, who had found means tests both unpopular and demor alising, but she thought that if the income tax limit could be adopted it would be an easy automatic definition This thought she presented in a lucid helpful way. There was a third lady in the discussion. The style of Miss ! Susan Lawrence, the Minister in charge of the Bill, wfl p Professional. As she i gave a lecture on the administrative impossibility of a limit she leaned over the box, rubbing her hands and patting the palm of the left hand with the right. Miss Lawrence is rather too di dactic in style, and if she wants to get the favourable attention of the House she must cease to lecture it. The Little Season. Once again the Little Season is prov ing a close rival of its official predeces sor in brilliance. The social calendar is> as full as it was in May, but there is a difference in the nature of the func tions Their Majesties’ presence in town has given a considerable fillip to things generally, and at the present mo ment, with the arrival of the Queen ol Spain, and her daughters, social activ itv has reached a climax seldom surpassed even in the season proper, in spite of the fact that many London hostesses are in the country entertain ing shooting parties. The Little Season has always had a special charm of its own for those who share in its activity, namely, the pecu liarly English atmosphere which is | created. American and other foreign hostesses, who like to play a part in London’s real season, prefer to spend the autumn in their own country, and it is left to English hostesses to sponsor Little Season gaietv and the host of charitable functions which are so much a part of it. Three of the Royal Princes, the

Prince of Wales, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Gloucester, are accepting several daily engagements, and all three are dining out a great deal.

Our Fallen Heroes. The Imperial War Graves Commission announced this week that there are nearly a thousand cemeteries stretched across France and Belgium as well as more than 1500 French communal cemeteries and churchyards in which some of the British dead are buried. There are a cemetery at Vevey in Switzerland. 93 in Italy, 21 in Macedonia, 31 in the Gallipoli Peninsula, 2 in Syria, 40 in Palestine, 5 in Egypt, as well as cemeteries in India, China, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and there are fifty other countries where British war graves may be found. I. is, however, not generally realised that in the United Kingdom there are more than 07,000 graves in more than 5000 churchyards and cemeteries. Not all of chese are cared for with the same attention as the cemeteries in France, which are bright with flowers, and contain the impressive Stone M Remembrance and Cross of Sacrifice. For example, in the Hampstead Public Cemetery there may be found a small plot of ground in which 108 men have been buried, but not in separate graves. - Their names are given on the surrounding wall, and the plot is disfigured by eight blocks of stone marked with alphabetical letters A to G There are a few artificial flowers in glass bowls, but no plants or rose trees such as beautifj' the war cemeteries abroad. The Hampstead Borough Council cuts the grass, but cannot take any steps to make this spot more beautiful without the permission of the Imperial War Graves Commission, and this .body, which has done such wonderful work all the world over, has not yet apparently taken this matter in hand. A Wonderful Relic. More than a century after the death of the hero of Trafalgar, a serious effort is being made to collect the many relics associated with his name for the purpose of founding a national collection in the Painted Hall at Greenwich. A year or two ago, an exhibition of Nelson relics, manv of them privately owned, was held in the West End. and notable among them was the Chelengk, oi “Plume of Triumph”, a decoration presented to Nelson by the Sultan of Turkey after the Battle of the Nile. Nelson highly prized this Order, for in the Mohammedan world it represents

the highest order of chivalry. Recently the Order came on the market, and now it has been secured for the Greenwich collection through the generosity of Lady Barclay, widow of Sir Colville Barclay, lately our Ambassador at Lisbon. The Chelengk, which has thirteen rays of jewels, one for each enemy ship taken at the battle, appears in the armorial bearings designed for Nelson, which are an epitome of his career. One crest consists of the stern, “floating in waves of the sea proper”, of the Spanish man-of-war, San Joseph, in which he received the swords of the Spanish officers after the victory of St Vincent. The other, as described in heraldry, is “over a naval crown or, the chelengk or diamond plume of triumph, presented to the first Lord Nelson by the Grand Seignor, Sultan Selim III.” Other features of this coat of arms are its “bend engrailed of the field, charged with three hanci grenades of the second, fired proper” its disabled ship and battery in ruins, and its supporters—an armed sailor, and a lion reguardant, in his mouth two broken staffs from which flow the Spanish and French ensigns. The Chelengk had never before been given to a Christian, and the Turkish Sultan’s act has had no parallel since. I * Two Notable Films. The most elaborate British Empire film yet attempted is now nearly complete at the British Instructional studios at Welwyn, and will be shown before the end of the year. It is the work of Mr Walter Creighton, who has been given the most extensive facilities all over the Empire by the Empire Marketing Board. He travelled himself to South Africa and Canada and arranged for other scenes to be taken in Australia and New Zealand But the film will be more than a series of views. It is linked together by the story of a schoolboy who goes to Buckingham Palace and there, at the heart of the Empire sees in a kind of dream what the Empire means The Buckingham Palace scepes include views of the Throne Room and other apartments which, with their art treasures, have never been photographed before for the screen.

Since the War the Pap worth Village Settlement outside Cambridge has established itself as one of the most valuable counter-measures yet attempted against tuberculosis A film has now been made of its activities, in the hope that the work going on there will be more widely known and more gener-

ously supported. We see in the central hospital where all patients go on arrival, the open-air huts where the convalescents sleep, and the workshops where they earn a living as soon as they are strong enough. At Papworth now a great many men who would otherwise almost certainly have become a charge on the community are happily settled with their wives and families, doing useful work and earning regular wages. It has been found that occupations in well-ventilated workshops are usually much healthier for tuberculosis patients than outdoor pursuits, which are nearly always too strenuous. Hence the chief industries at Papworth are upholstery, carpentry, sign-writing, leather goods making, and so on. No one works more than six hours a day, but Papworth products are well able to hold their own in competitive markets, and since 1918 the turnover has risen from a few hundred pounds a year to well over £50.000. But the great difficulty has always been, and still is, lack of capital. An Air Derby. F'ew events arouse such intense and aidespread interest as a speed contest, md in the belief that the “ air sense ” nt the nation is now -ufficiently developed, the Royal Aero Club propose i institute an Air Derby. A short eries of races bearing this title was teld for a few years, but was discon inued in 1923, when a speed of 1 '2 niles an hour was achieved by Mr -arry Carter over a 200 mile course. In subsequent years, entries were icking, but it is now proposed to re iganise the event with an extended ourse of a thousand miles, the race to be flown concurrently with the King’s Cup contest round Britain. In the past, the race has been a 'peed event usually flown on a circu!a: course, with London as centre. In the past, the race has been a speed event usually flown on a circn iar course, with London as centre. A 1 most all high speed aircraft now be longs to the Air Force, so that there is small opportunity for private indivi duals to enter machines. If the race remains an unlimited event, there is little chance of a good field. The powerful and expensive an gines which are needed for the high speeds which are attained nowaday: are far beyond the reach of private in dividuals, both in first cost and in run ning cost. The best course might be for the Royal Aero Club to keep the

Aerial Derby a speed event, but to limit, the engine sizes. It would then be possible for small racing aidcraft to enter, and speeds of anything up to 200 miles an hour might be expected.