In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 134, 3 December 1938, Page 21

In the Public Eye

Sir Horace John Wilson, Chief Industrial Adviser to the British Government since 1930, has a high-sounding title, but you feel no awe when you meet Sir Horace. Spare of figure is he, with a generous mouth, and eyes that make you feel easy. That's why he has this highsounding title. His life has been spent in bringing peace to men and movements at war with each other. But until he stepped into an aeroplane bound for Germany with Mr. Chamberlain his , peace-making had been largely confined to labour troubles. And how successful he has been. In 1919 he was appointed Principal Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Labour; two years later he became Permanent Secretary; nine years later Chief Industrial Adviser. Sir Horace has always shunned the limelight. Now, of course, he cannot dodge it, but if he had had his way he would have left at midnight with no one to see him off. Sir Horace was a discovery of Mr. Lloyd George. Mr. J. H. Thomas thought a lot of him, too; used to call him " 'Orace." Sir Horace used to smile at that. A man with a big brain and a quiet voice. He has whispered many quiet words into the ears —first of Lord Baldwin, now of Mr. Chamberlain. Both trust him implicitly. What of this man's career? It is an example to all with a will to work and a faith in themselves. He is 56 now, and he has gone a long way since he studied at the London School of Economics. He has been married for 30 years; has one son and two daughters. In town they live in Kensington; in the country at Chailey, Sussex. These days they are beginning to call Sir Horace the "mystery man" of Whitehall . . . the man behind the scenes. A whispered word and who knows what happens? Major-General E. A. Beck. The War Office committee which has been revising claims to battle honours was presided over by Major-General E. A. Beck. He is Director of Personal Services at the War Office, and as such may be said to be ex officio chairman. His reputation of being the best-mannered man in the British Army serves him well in such a job. An interesting claim was that of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, who wish to add Chalmette Plain to their battle roll. It was at Chalmette Plain, near New Orleans, that a British force of 12,000 suffered a costly defeat at the hands of an American army under Andrew Jackson on January 8, 1815. When the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, afterwards to become the 2nd Argylls, were assaulting the enemy position, they were halted 150 yards from their objective. Before orders came for them to retire their casualties amounted to 75 per cent, of their strength. The battle was watched by spectators of both sexes, and the story goes that the gallantry of the 93rd was so conspicuous that the ladies of New Orleans entertained 'the surviving officers to dinner. Whether or not the Argylls are to be allowed to add this battle to their honours, they possess,one which, it is believed, no other line regiment holds. This is "Balaclava," where they earned the description of "the thin red line, tipped with steel." Mr. Mitchell Hepburn. There was great relief in Canada recently over the news of the safety of Mr. Mitchell Hepburn, Acting Premier of Ontario, who was overdue on a flight from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Juneau, Alaska. Mr. Hepburn is 42 years of age, and is easily the personality in Canadian public life who inspires most curiosity. As a popular orator and vote-getter he is without a rival. In 1926 he won a Tory stronghold and entered the Dominion House of Commons. In 1930, when the Conservatives triumphed, Mr. Hepburn increased his majority. He took on the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party at a time when nobody else would tackle the job of opposing Mr. G. Howard Ferguson and the Conservative Administration, which had held office for twenty-nine years. In 1934 he defeated Mr. Ferguson and became Premier. From 1935 onwards he has been increasingly critical of the King Administration at Ottawa, which must be embarrassing to the Federal Liberals, who draw most of their strength from Ontario, and he would certainly be a candidate for the Dominion Liberal leadership if Mr. King, who is sixty-four and who has been the party leader for nineteen years (fifteen years in office), were to retire. Mr. J. G. Mann. It is likely that Mr. J. G. Mann, keeper of the Wallace Collection, will soon succeeded Mr. Charles ffoulkes as Master of the Armouries at the Tower of London. Mr. ffoulkes, who is 70, has been master for three years, and was curator of the armouries from 1913 to 1935. Mr. Mann, who is 41, is already honorary curator of armour at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Arms and armour have been Mr. Mann's passion since he was a small boy. While lie was on the Italian front as an artilleryman during the war he used to spend his leave visiting cities behind the lines where his interest could best be indulged. An internationally recognised authority, he possesses one of the fienst private libraries on the subject in the county. His other hobby is European travel. Last year he was able to indulge both bents simultaneously. With Sir Fredric Kenyon, he visited Government Spain—including the Royal Armoury at Madrid —to see how Spanish art treasures were faring.

The French Minister of Justice, ;M. Paul Reynaud, lawyer, business man, and financial expert, became Finance Minister last month in a slight Cabinet revision at this critical juncture in French history. It happened easily enough, and without any political crisis, in. a way ( that was indicated as likely at a previous Cabinet meeting. M. Paul Marchandeau, Minister of Finance since M. Edouard Daladier's Cabinet was formed, had presented his case for national recovery in a manner that was not acceptable to all his colleagues. Throughout the previous month argument had been going on, and there was an obvious division of opinion between those who sought to treat the problem of recovery from a purely financial standpoint and those who saw it from the economic viewpoint. M. Daladier asked his collegues to take twenty-four hours to consider the situation, and he summoned the Cabinet for 5 o'clock on November 1. M. Marchandeau, knowing that he was in the minority, offered his resignation. I But to keep the Cabinet intact M. Daladier asked him to change places with M. Reynaud and take the Ministry of Justice, and this amicable settlement was made. Later everybody was asking: "And now what?" M. Daladier's. powers to act by decree expired on November 15. M. Reynaud does not belong to the Left and is not regarded by the Right as orthodox. In the days when France was clinging desperately to the gold standard while the dollar and the pound were enjoying the advantages of devaluation, he was among the foremost partisans of devaluation. Today this is no longer so, for reasons that he explained to the Press shortly after he had been confirmed in his new post by President Lebrun.

"There was a time," he said, "when the question of devaluation was an actuality, for French prices were too high with respect to world prices. At that time I did not hesitate to advocate it. That time has passed. The problem that confronts us is not a monetary one. It is economic and financial."

Having in this way made his position clear and dispelled, in part at least, the idea that his appointment would mean another devaluation of the franc, M. Reynaud said he would take five days to consider the situation. Then, he said, he would act.

There is no doubt that the new Finance Minister has a thorough knowledge of his subject. Although he is not entirely orthodox, he is regarded as the man to lead the exceptional effort that the country must make. In politics M. Reynaud belonged to the Right Centre—the Democratic Alliance—until it was somewhat disrupted by the attitude and acts of its president, M. Pierre-Etienne Flandin, during the Czechoslovak crisis, and M. Reynaud resigned. At that time he was with Colonial Minister Georges Mandel one of the partisans in the Cabinet of a firm front towards Germany and was reported to have offered his resignation to M. Daladier, who persuaded him to withhold it. With M. Daladier formed his Cabinet it was expected that M. Reynaud would become Finance Minister, but it was decided at that time that the measure he wished to propose would prove too radical for acceptance by all his colleagues. Hence he entered the Cabinet as Minister of Justice. This in itself was a departure from orthodoxy for one of his party because the Cabinet was supported by Communist and Socialist votes. He has never been a party man in the strict sense, however, and recently he explained his position thus: "At a time like this everyone must serve." Curiously, M. Reynaud is one of the few members of the Right who, while opposed to Communism, regard French association with Russia as desirable, not only for strategical reasons, but also from an economic viewpoint. However, he is realistic in his views as to how France should conduct diplomatic 'and .trade relations with Germany and Italy. M. Reynaud is Deputy for the Paris Second Ward, which embraces the principal commercial enterprises of the city. Mr. Yosuke Matsuoka. It was learned unofficially but de- i finitely that Mr. Yosuke Matsuoka was resigning the presidency of the South Manchuria Railway soon. He was believed to be the most likely candidate for the Foreign Ministership, but was not appointed. Fifty-eight-year-old Yosuke Matsuoka has been president of the South Manchuria Railway since August, 1935. Born at Yamaguchiken, he was sent to the United States for his education and was graduated from the law school of Oregon University in 1902. Upon his return to Japan he entered the foreign service and was made Consul at Shanghai in 1904. He was next Consul-General at Mukden, then Chief of the Information Department of the Foreign Office, and, in 1917, secretary to the Foreign Minister. The following year he served as secretary to the Japanese Premier. In 1919 he was a delegate to the Paris Conference. In 1921 he became a director of the South Manchuria Railway, a post he held for five years, when he became vice-president. He was elected to Parliament in 1930 and 1932. At the time of the Shanghai "incident," in the latter year, he was sent by the Government to that city, prior to visiting Geneva as chief delegate to the plenary session of the League of Nations at the time when Japan withdrew from the League. He resigned from Parliament in 1933, but has been a Cabinet Advisory Councillor since August, 1935. He is married and lives in Tokio, where his collection of Chinese paintings, pottery, and sculpture is famous.