“THE MAIL’S” LETTER FROM LONDON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 5 January 1931, Page 7

“THE MAIL’S” LETTER FROM LONDON

LONDON, 30lh November. This week there is a revival of the old story of a. Socialist cabal against Mr MacDonald, one symptom of which is the persistent report- that the Prime Minister’s strength is being overtaxed. The ambition of the conspirators is to depose Mr MacDonald in favour of Mr Henderson, and to ginger up the Government policy. Nothing is likely to come of the. movement, however.' because loyalty to the Prime Minister, who is certainly the ablest figure on the present front bench, is of a sturdy quality amongst the trade union members of Parliament, and, rightly or wrongly, many of them suspect Mr Lloyd George of being behind the movement. if Mr MacDonald goes-, (be Governments’ life will not be prolonged many weeks.

TIDING OVER?

Another interesting subject of political gossip is concerned with Sir John Simon's revolt, and the possibility of the Government being defeated before the Indian Conference has finished its work. Tn that event some people, who consider the present economic crisis as serious as that of the war, would prefer to see a, party truce whereby the upset of another general election might be postponed, if not avoided, and the Government carried on bv either a two or a three-party coalition. However much there may be to commend that idea, it is almost certainly impractical. It would arouse the fiercest hostility both amongst the extreme -Socialists and the diehard Conservatives. The latter are convinced now that the country is eager for a tariff policy.

NOTHING ATTEMPTED, NOTHING DONE

The Premier, I suspect, is breathing a sigh of relief at the thought that the Imperial Conference is over. Though Mr MacDonald has an undoubted predilection for conferences, councils, and commissions, the consultation of Premiers was certainty not of his seeking. He must have been well aware from the outset that it could only prove a source of embarrassment to him from an unbiased pointmf view. I am inclined to think that flic conference would have proved equally awkward to either leaders of the Opposition parties had fate ordained one of them to be in nllice instead of Mr MacDonald. In all parties iiscal policy is clearly in a state of flux at present, and with the heavy suasion which is being put upon them by Press campaigning, the Conservatives, bad they been in office, might have found it even more difficult than havo done the Socialists to avoid some step that might subsequently prove disastrous. GILT-EDGED RISING

The very high prices at which all British funds are now standing—typified by Consols and Conversion Loan, both well above the highest level of last year—are partly due to the great volume of money which cannot find more profitable investment. There is, however, another factor. By January last every insurer who intends to do motor insurance business will, under the terms of the Road Act, have to deposit approved securities wtih the Treasury, and a conservative estimate puts the total of these deposits at £3,000,000. The large companies will doubtless transfer stocks which they hold already, but many of the smaller companies and Lloyds underwriters are having to purchase in the market. Purchases even of gilt-edged securities on such a scale must affect the price. LEGAL AMALGAMATIONS London solicitors having spent _ a cquplo of years arranging an increasing number of amalgamations for business clients, arc now tending to amalgamate themselves. This is particularly true of firms with ollices in the West End many of whom have been hard hit by the impoverishment of the landed gentiy. Within the last month I have heard of eight firms engaged in negotiations for the acquisiton of other practices, in the hopo that by this means expenses can bo reduced with a larger volume of business. In a well-managed practice the expense ratio ought not to exceed 30 per cent., hut, a friend, who has been going into the figures of a number of firms, tells mo many of the less prosperous have an expense ratio of over 65 per cent. As business falls away, of course, the expense burden becomes heavier.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF’S RESPONSIBILITY

The Army in India will welcome the memorandum of the Indian Government to the Round-Table Conference in so far as it affects the political position of the Gommander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. Since Lord Kitchener’s day the complete executive administration and political responsibility in regard to the army has been vested in the Command-cr-in-Chief, Lord Kitchener having a rooted dislike to any military member, even of general rank, acting as a channel of communication between him and the Viceroy. It was on this question that Lord 'Kitchener and Lord Curzon quarrelled and Lord Curzon resigned. As the position now stands, the Com-mander-m-Chief has to add to his many military duties an appearance in the Assembly to explain his schemes and defend his position, just as the Secretary of .Stale for War has to do in our House of Commons., What is required is a civilian member in the Assembly to represent the. army, and thus free the Commander-iii-Chief from onerous duties unsuitable for a. soldier. Jhe ( onnnand-er-in-Chief would still, however, be the military adviser of the Viceroy. DEMOCRATISING THE NAVY

The Government’s declared intention of widening the source of supply of officers for the Royal Navy is not relished in the service. Particular objection, among the commissioned ranks at any rate, is taken to the reference to the recently-appointed committee, which, broadly interpreted, means that some plan must be devised by which boys belonging to the public elementary schools may become eligible for cadetships. As a primary condition of such a scheme, the. Stale must be prepared wholly to maintain, them without parental assistance during their cadet education and training. _ Naval officers foresee strong social objections to this democratising process, though, strangely enough, the majority would willingly assent to a much larger number of pro-

CURRENT EVENTS UNDER REVIEW , POLITICAL AND SOCIAL DOINGS ' SOCIALIST CABAL (From Our Own Correspondent.)

motions being made from the lower deck. That their apprehensions arc not welt founded is suggested by the fact that- the influx of “ranker” cadets into Sandhurst, so tnr from having untoward effects, is providing the army with keen and efficient officers. ROUGH LUCK lo realise how many men, most of them middle-aged now, are walking about with war wounds one must he a habitue of the Turkish Baths. On any chance morning at the host place of the kind in London, nearly half the men who pass through the masseurs’ hands hoar outward and visible marks, sometimes still of an appalling nature, °f the 1914-lB vintage. But the worst luck 1 ever heard of is that of one pukka army man who is a fairly regular at,tender at these baths. He is a cheerful soul, hut blind. He came all through the war, as a fighting soldier, too, without serious damage. And then, just a fortnight after the Armistice, he lost both his eyes in a high explosive test. I can hardly imagine, amongst all the hard cases of the war, a more tragic one than that. But the victim is one of the jolliest souls alive.

SEA LEGIONARIES To the already pretty full-blooded romance. of that picturesque and efficient organisation, the famous Legion of Frontiersmen, lias now been added a sea flank. It is proposed lo enlist suitable men, witli seafaring experience, such as ex-officers of the naval and mercantile services, fishermen, and presumably yachtsmen, in all the chief seaports, notably London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Bristol, and Hull, with the object of forming companies of Sea Legionaries who would be available for national service in time of emergency. I believe the movement promises success. It will bo under the command of Count Johnston-N'oad, the founder of this sea-going branch of the Legion of Frontiersmen. There should he enough sea ex-servicemen of the War period to give the project a good backing. CUSTOMS CHAIRMAN Mr P. J. Grigg, the new chairman of the Board of Customs,''has been principal privato secretary to seven Chancellors of the Exchequer, counting Mr Snowden twice. In that capacity lie has been in the inner secrets of public finance for the last ton years. He went to Washington with Mr Baldwin, and to The Hague with Mr Snowden, and has come into dose contact with the Finance -Ministers of all the leading Powers. Mr Grigg, who went to school in Bournemouth, took a high place in the mathematical tripos at Cambridge, and emerged first in the Civil Service examination of his year. During ■ the war ho served with the artillery in Salonica, ,and later his mathematical attainments Jed to his appointment to the department of ballistics at Woolwich. After the war he returned to the Treasury, whose successive heads hud reason to appreciate Jus shrewd assistance.

EARPHONES FOR PASSENGERS It is not certain but quite possible that, in the immediate future, tho amenities of modern railway travel will include on all long ]ouj'iieyis in tnis. country, a set of’ earphones for listen-ing-in to 8.13. C. programmes. Trials have already been rnado with railway, wireless, but only to the extent of enabling passengers between London and the North to follow the fortunes of the Derby or Grand National races. .But now a London-Lceds express has been wired, and the proposal is to furnish earphones which passengers may hire at will, and -which can be plugged into the wireless broadcast apparatus on the train. Whether this facility is generally adopted will depend on what sort of 'demand is found for such travel entertainment. It will bo rather astonishing, however, if the travelling public does not respond. NEW FISH METHODS A new method of chilling Empire fish for transport lias been tested in the case of salmon, and has proved a great success. The fish is not frozen as in the past—a treatment that has made it on arrival somewhat tasteless —hut is kept at such a temperature that the fibres are not broken doWn. By this method the fish can he shipped without being first cleaned, which is said to result in greater richness and a better flavour. It is tho intention to concentrate on the treatment at first of salmon and halibut, and by this means to provide the general public with “luxury fish” at prices everyone can afford.

TWO THOUSAND YEAR OLD I’LAY

Sir Nigel Playfair, with his presentation of Mr Arthur Symons’s “The Toy Cart” at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, gave playgoers not only an interesting play, but a first-rate evening’s entertainment. The play is an adaptation of a two thousand year old Hindu classic attributed to Sudraka. In Mr Symons’s poetic English the play is surprisingly fresh in its humour, and there is a keen edge to its satire, whilst its pathos is as' poignant as a lover of modern melodrama- could wish. Sudraka understood the blending of many diverse elements, as well as in his own day did Shakespeare. He mixed farce, high comedy, tragedy, and satire with the hand of a skilful dramatic- artist. The story deals with the love of a poor I'ralnnin noble for a beautiful courtesan. This courtesan is admired by the King s brother-in-law, who causes a number of trials and tribulations for the two lovers before their love triumphs at tho end of the play. Among the incidents shown

are the attempted murder of the cbiirtosan by her Royal admirer, the trial of the Brahmin who is accused of ~tile crime, and his interrupted execution.

GOOD-BYE TO ALL THAT

Nothing could more emphatically mark the changed spirit since the Great War than the Secret Service addendum just made to the Imperial War Museujn,, Here are displayed sonic of the; espi,Qj;i-|, age souvenirs of 1914-18—coins wjjjfyj hollow centres to hold messages, bits:6f torn shirt with cypher reports .written,, on them, and all manner of queer ;devices' exceeding the wildest imagination of Lho writers of spy romances. But the' really startling feature of the exhibition, is a German contribution, including thesecret code hv which during the war,,, German agents transmitted naval intelligence. Just cast your memory back', to the spy fever period, any time in 1914-15, and then picture wnat woujd have happened to anyone suggestingsuch an exhibition as this ever being, staged at South Kensington! COUSIN OF THE TSAR

~ Prince Serge Romanovsky, whose: water-colour panitings are now being shown at Mrs -Van der Elst’s Kensing-' ton house, is a cousin of the late Tsar,’and related to many European royal: houses. A typical figure of the prej Revolution Russian aristocrat, tall and distinguished, lie looks older than 40, which is his actual »ge, owing to tRe. horrors of the Bolshevik Terror. As .a'--youth he was one of .the best lawn-., tennis players in I’etrograd, and held’ high command later in the Tsarist Navy. Dependent now on his own re-/ sources, he has developed a youthful artistic flair, after not having a paint brush in his hand for fifteen years. It, was a choice between the paletto and the concert platform, for the Prince.is’ a really brilliant pianist. His pictures, mostly studies in Italy and Southern France, are by no means amateurish. SURVIVORS Not alone elderly Victorians but even middle-aged. Edwardians remember when the West End hummed with hansom cabs. These graceful two-wheel', horse-gondolas prowled the streets, theirsmart cabbies perched aloft behind the dicky, buttonhole in dustcoat, jaunty topper on head, and always with a bow,., of ribbon on the whip. Only five remain now, and they rely mainly' on their novelty. Sportive post-War youngsters and sporting Oversea visitors like, to charter one just for the experience. But there is one old gentleman who is ‘ faithful to his cabby, and has berin a regular customer for 25 years. Richard Le Gnllienne, in his poem on the Strand, sings the hansom cab:— L “And hansoms hover, ; Dragon-flies with jewelled eyes, ; . To catch the lover”. wmßm ———————