ADMIRALTY CHIEF

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 41, 18 January 1944, Page 6

ADMIRALTY CHIEF

CAREER OF MR ALEXANDER HEAVY RESPONSIBILITTES lin its Profile Series, the London recently gave the followg interesting account of the 1 First jvd of the Admiralty. "It would be easy to undercstiatc Mr Alexander's importance : s responsibilities, though shared, •e. heavy, and his work, especially i such matters: as supply, are nrduis. "The Navy give him Cull credit ir his work. He gels on well with ie staff and his grasp of detail, ipacity for work, and physical remrces are universally admired, erhaps there may he a quiet, smile t his yachting cap or the hint of hurchilliaji bombast which sememes creeps into his speeches. But o more than that. Alexander's connest is! real. Yet originally he owed his posion to a whim of. Ramsay Mac Don Jin 1924,, Mr Alexander Avas Paramentary Secretary of tlie. Board ; Trade. When Mac Donald called im in 1929, he expected to be ofjred its Presidency. But the Prenv sr said that the post had to go imewhc.rc else and asked him to e. First Lord. Alexander said he. ked the sea and was interested in ie Navy, but knew little about it. [acDonald won the argument and, lew days later, the. newspapers ad; pictures oi" a Co-operative van ailing with the groceries at Adliralty House. Popular With Officers There was. a good deal of speeuition about the chances of success Labour man would have at the lead of the Senior Service Departlent. (Lord Chclmsford had iilled he position in the first Labour Govrnment). Obviously Alexander rouhl be 1 popular with the Lower )eck. But the Admirals? How vould. they take it? The answer i-ns that, in the British tradition,, hey took it very well. His! work in j his period produced several happy •csults. He was urged to produce nore County class cruisers, of which he. Kent is an example, but he put ris weight down on the. side of the es.s senior officers and inaugurated :he Leandcr class of light, fast :ruisers to which the Achilles and \jax, the victors over the Graf Spec, je'long. He; also made close friends vith Mr Stimson, whom he met at ;he London Naval Conference. Years ate.r, Mr Stimson and Mr Alexander vere together concerned in the ;ransfer of i>o American destroyers. ?or all new warships this First Lord told the naval architect they mist provide the most comforiable accommodation possible for the men. It was , no surprise in this war ivhen Mr Churchill chose Mr Alexander to be his successor at the Admiralty. There , is one. notable and permanent work he has accomplished. He is the author of tlie scheme which permits a secondary school boy, without financial help from his family, to receive his education at Dartmouth in preparation for a car3er as a naval officer. First Administrative Post Albert Victor Alexander himself started life with even more disadvantages than most of his party comrades. He was born in 188.1 at Weston-super-Mare. He Avas one of four young children when his father,, an artisan engineer, died.. Mrs Alexander was 28, and by the drudgery of fine sewing, kept the family on its feet and even hoarded enough to keep Albert Victor at school be-> yOAu the , age. of 12. lint such higher scholarship he would; not accept. He took a job at a Bristol warehouse and went to technical classes at night. Then he joined the Bristol School Board and eventually got an administrative post with the Somerset County Education Committee. During this period, lie -was becoming a local personality. He was a good athlete; he swum, played football and, even the middle-class game of tennis. Most important, he made himself into a Baptist lay preacher of note. His Political Life The first real step of his political career was taken in 1908, when, upon marrying Miss Esther Chappie, a school teacher and church worker, he joined the Weston Co-opera-tive Society. When Avar came he joined the Army as a private anjl rose to be captain. Back in Weston, he became vice-president of the Coop. He soon became known as a national figure in the. Co-operative Movement. In 1920 he was appointed secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of the Co-operative Con-

grass—a key post.. It was natural that he .should become a Labour Co-op, candidate. He won (Sheffield) in 1922, defeating a Coalition candidate by 3000-- votes. In Ifl3l he lost his scat. When Alexander returned to Parliament in lUiio. he impressed the House in some of the most heated debates on foreign policy, and he was one of the , most formidable critics of non-intervention. It is unlikely that Alexander will ever occupj - No. 10 Downing Street. But No. 11 may one day be his home.