In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 138, 7 December 1929, Page 30

In the Public Eye

Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland.

After being reject ;on Division of Bir larrow margin of 1 Election last June, 3een found for Sir . and, Minister of La

eil by the Erding •mhigham by the 33 at the General a "safe" seat has Arthur Stecl-Mait-ibour iv Mr. Baldwin's Cabinet, at Tamworth, iv AVarwick s h i r c, where lie was (his -week elected in place oi; Sir Edward .Hi fix, who resigned in order to let the ex-Minister back to the House of Commons. Sir Arthur was safely returned, but

his majority was

considerably less than Sir Echvarfl lliffe's. The latter was returned last June with a majority of ■15;*D5.'ovbr Mr. George Hor -ill, but a:t the' by-election Sir Arthur's majority had dropped to 10,695 over the same opposing candidate. The ex-Min-ister was well-fitted to hold the control of the Labour Department, having considerable knowledge of mining and other' matters, besides having been trained by experience as head of the Treasury, then at the Board of Trade, and Jater still; at the Foreign and Colonial Offices. Ho is now 53 years old and was born in India, the son of a colonel of artillery. After being educated at Rugby and Balliol, where he took, a first in Greats, was president of the Oxford Union, and secured his rowing Blue, followed by a Fellowship at Air Souls, he began his training for a political career by becoming private secretary to : Mr. Ritchie and then to Sir Austen Chamberlain when they' were-at the Treasury in the SalisburyBalfour Administration. He acted as Special Commissioner to the Royal Commission on Poor Laws in 1906-7, and was joint author of a report on the relation of industry and housing to English' pauperisms For five years, from 1 19.11: to ,1916, Sir Arthur was at the head of the Central Conservative Organisation. :He entered into political | office under the first Coalition Government, and later became head of the Overseas Trade Department in the Lloyd • George Coalition, a position Which he resigned because of dissatisfaction -with the dual control of the Consular system by the Board of Trade and the Foreign Office. Sir Arthur first entered, Parliament as the Conservative member for East Birmingham to which constituency he was elected in 1910, remaining its member untif 1918, when he was elected for the Erdington Division of Birmingham. This seat he lost last June, but is now returned for the Tarn worth seat. Sir Arthur received his baronetcy in 1917. In 1901 he was married to Miss Mary Maitland, daughter of Sir James Maitland, whose name he later added to his own of Steel.

Earl of Birkenliead,

at tlie preseut tiuxc is Licutenaiit-Col-oncl of Canadii-'s Overseas Forces aucl iroiiorary Colonel of the Duke of Coniiauglit's Royal Canaai.lll Hussars. He is tl.c founder of. the British Conimomvcalth LTniou, Canada' Steam Ship Lines, Limited, and the British Empire btcel Corporatiou, Limited, and in addition is a. vice-president of tlie Navy League, chairman of .the Canadian Association, and president of the Irish Club in London. Colonel Jlordeu also devotes a considerable amount of time to various sports, a.nd is a well-known huntsman and ex-.M.F.H. of the Avon •\ ale Hunt. Ik' is outspoken in his opinions, a Tory in his ideas, and a cobiuopolitan on the field of every sport. His outspokenness fretnieutly gets him'into trouuln, but if his attack on any person or .parly. 13 more; severe than it should bo ho usually, niakes amends in 1113 cooler moments. For instance, in June ot 10_7, he was responsible for a considerable llun-y among members of tlie Labour Party when he accused them al) ot being in-the pay of Russia.. It was an unduly sweeping statement, but was overlooked by Mr. Speaker. The nest day, however, Colonel Morden realised that his remarks ivere unfair to members of the Labour Party, and he asked leave to withdraw them, with the added statement that he had become involved in the incident as a result of Socialist attacks on Mr. Baldwin, who was then Prime Minister. :

Early in the present week the cable news 'from -London stated that the Earl of Birkenhead,, speaking at a meeting of the -Conservative Association last week-end, had attacked the Labour Party and all-its doings. He was particularly bitter in his remarks about Mi-. MacDonald and Mr. Snowden, and of their- Continental., activities. Two qualities distinguish all, or almost all, Lord Birkenhead's speeches— their masculine couinionscnso and their rolianco on rp, „ lucid argument, me lirst springs from his own nature. His powerful intellect and considerable scholarship have Clever led him either into particularist queerness and oddities of thought, or into its nioro delicate- refinements. Although many of his countrymen disagreo with his opinions, although his: views on almost every topic/have been, and will be, sharply and deeply -challenged, nevertheless A is always a John Bull who speaks. He is a strong, sensible, pugnacious man who has fought his way forward through every march in life's campaign. Ono-who has never sought by any mental device to shield himself from realities, who has been ready at every moment to confront any antagonist and to face every vicissitude. Lord Birkenhead's speeches, even in their most swashbuckling, style—and they often err- in this direction—are always built up, probably as a result of his early legal training. For the most part his speeches are delivered with no- apparent verbal preparation, and with few, if any, notes. But this is a snare and a delusion. Each phaso of his speeches has been carefully conned over and prepared. There is, however, a special quality about his speeches which is particularly attractive to the listener. They seem to grow in strength and colour as they proceed. Beginning quietly, even to the point of mumbling, and with an air of hesitancy in word and tone which seems to convey a sense of poising before throwing the full weight of his argument into the arena.. As the discourse proceeds the speaker warms up to his task, and finally his ; speech flows out in a spontaneous, natural form of oratory entirely charming and quite convincing. He spoils some of his best efforts, however, by his bitterness, and he has made many enemies in this way, when he might easily have been equally convincing without losing a friend, though perhaps a political opponent. As Mr. F. E. Smith, K.C., it was predicted many years ago that he would one day be Prime Minister, but that high office seems further away to-day than ever it_ did then, simply because he has alienated many people by the vigour and brutality of his speeches. Above all his audacity, his. nonchalance, and his scathing wit, made him a power in debate in the House of Commons, and he occupies a similar position in the House .of Lords to-day.

Mr. John Wheatley.

Five years ago Mr. John Wheatley was a Minister of the Crown holding the portfolio of Health in the first Labour Cabinet, but when Mr. MacDonald formed his more recent Cabinet Mr; Wheatley failed to find a place. He first

minster towards the close of 1922 as one of a group of Scottish Socialists who -are generally refer-, ed to as the "Clyde ■ Contingent," or the "Black Squad." Host of them have made

they have been in the' House forty-eight hours—fearsome tirades in denunciation of the existing order of things, which has shocked Parliament not a little, and opened the eyes of members of the older parties to tho presence of a new force in the midst of things nolitical. But the Clyde members differ in. magnitude no less than the stars, and right from the beginning of his political career Mr. Wheatley has been noted as one having merit and ability above his fellows. He was early marked out as one who would have to be reckoned with, and. even by the late Lord Asquith ho was recognised as "a formidable combatant," and complimented on his -'adroit debating performances." He is not a new figure in the House of Commons, but he is still a broad - beamed, comfortable - looking man, who, with, knit brows, gazes through goia-rimmed glasses at what he regards as a disordered world. His breadth detracts from his height, and his short Jogs give him a stumpy appearance as ho walks with a heavy tread across the floor of the House. His wisps of hair above his full, round face are more often ruffled than smooth combed. His clothes are capacious and easy-fitting rather than smart, and he is inclined to walk about with a sheaf of papers thrust carelessly into- his-coat pocket, quite in. keeping with the character of a man to whom appearances count for little and who declined to don a silk hat whe-_i ho went to Buckingham- Palace. There is the harsh note of the graaity north in his voice, and the Scots accent is strongly marked. Of Irish paroutage he regards himself as a child or the slums of the Lanarkshire coalfields, telling the-House on one occasion, that he was one of a family of eleven who lived for years in a 1 singleroomed apartment. Until he was 22 he worked in.the.coal mines. Now he is ln^busmess. in_ Glasgow as a publisher, winch has laid him open to the gibe that he is a capitalist among the Socialists. • • ■ .

Mr. Kaye Doii,

50..,-., ,§r sion, and eventually it was replaced by milder amend^ ment appointing a sub-committee to investigate the troubles that wero voiced at ""the meeting. Colonel Mordea, is. M.P. for the.Brentford arid Chiswick Division of Middlesex, which seat he has held since 1918. He is chairman of directors o- Odhams, Ltd., who recently purchased the principal interest in the Labour newspaper, "Daily Herald." Colonel Morden is a Canadian by birth, having been born in Prince Edward County, Ontario, 1880, and wa^educated at Toronto. As a young man he took a great deal of terest m military affairs in Canada, and

.. lh° . sPes,a fiend" is once more in the Public Eye as a result of a cablegram this week from London statinc tnnn , Kayo D°U iS hftvinS built a 1000 ■' horse-power motor-car in which c intends to try to lower the speed record of 231 miles per hour standing to the credit of Sir Henry Segrave. There are now three men in the world who have attained reputations as speed smashers. . Sir Henry Segrave drove a 1000 h.p. Irving Napier, named the "Gol- , den Arrow " whpn he created the record at present stand" ing to his name at Daytona, U.S A embody eorttln iMprevenen,, " o ™ a ' mmm mmmm Sgil KtwiEiSaaaE** Cub'^ ,^ successful in ß ecuH^' i vY° rld'« records. M^intS 5 elal a Sl? tellt speed of nearly ?t g-f COn" !»""»*«» «"«»■ beat the roc^Sw 1" o «a n o»etr ™ «nd for 200 S'a^jlSS m;P- h- and 115.9G mph l, n ( "5f rhe Pre^ous records/held bvPn^e]7- --»«" U1.6 m.p.h. and 110 26 mnh T^' f°Howmg month-on 30th V ♦ ?«et-he secured threei shori^ \° be mternatidnal records it p? dl?tance cars °fer 1500 c.c. and mtn (f°r covering 5 kilometresfar I9«n o C- c-}' 5 milea at 125.74- m n h n a i? I'?^' Metres at 125.74 nipi.Tr lo" driving "The Cub" it= „• Was f^ain is 1088 '-c" Each of the S" a b°ing from a flying start Mr n was ma' still greater speeds wY^ 1™8 his heart's desire he wHi\ U* to f a*tain; in-a much more powerful enr tit tO, d"ye ever yet done. an he has

Colonel W. Grant Morden.

At a conference of the English Conservative and Unionist Organisation held in London last week, Colonel W. Grant.lforden moved "for an independent committee1 to examine into the working of the central office organisa-tion-in order to