In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 117, 20 May 1939, Page 24

In the Public Eye

■ concerts a year—at the age of 65—and1 Ms concert audiences, he thinks, would become smaller if he-were to be heard on the radio as well. Rachmaninoff is entirely an individualist; he knows! what music is good for him and he does not care if his own music is good •- for other people. His own music is his own "natural expression," and that, apparently,,, is all that concerns him.; His piano-playing fjs, of bourse, another matter; he is one of the giants who "play as it ought to be played"—but he will not talk about that. Mr. Otway McCannell. A large canvas showing the devil weighing the heads of Hitler and Must solini in the scales of Justice before a shocked audience, including Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Roosevelt, arid the v Pope, was banned by the Royal Society of British Artists from its exhibition, which started,at the Suffolk Galleries on April 22. The painting is called "Modern Allegory" and the artist is Mr. Otway McCannell, principal of the Farnham School of Art, Farnham, Surrey. It measures 60in by 50in, and took a fortnight to paint. The society asked Mr. McCannell to withdraw his picture because "it is conceivable it might be misunderstood, especially in the present- state of European affairs:" Mr. McCannell replied: "Artists are as entitled to express their views as writers and .orators. I have merely said what I feel with my brush." Mr. McCannell has decided to have his picture exhibited in Lqndpn soon, although he has made no definite arrangement yet. "This is all due to the s ultra caution and nervousness of the "society," Mr. McCannell said to a representative of the "Daily Telegraph." "I painted this picture because I wanted to speak. my mind and paint is my medium. I have painted several similar allegories, two of which—The Devil's Chessboard' and 'The Throne of the GodsV-were exhibited at the Royal Academy. It s.eems, strange ' that -the Royal Society of British Artists' should be : more squeamish than the Royal - Academy. I am not indignant at the society's action, but rather disappointed that my message jshould not reach the public from the •walls of its exhibition. The society has treated me with the utmost courtesy and consideration throughout." • The secretary of the society.said: "The council thought it inadvisable to accept this picture in the present state of international tension. We would have obtained a ruling from the Foreign! Office on the subject, but the "Catalogues had to be printed and there was no time. Mr. McCannell calls his painting,an allegory, but it is almost a political cartoon, and a satirical one at that. It is conceivable that the picture might be misunderstood and mislead, though we should have liked to have shown it, as it is extraordinarily good artistically." • Mr. McCannell, who is 56, has shown his works in feading London and Continental exhibitions, and others have been bought for municipal and private collections. His "Devil's Chessboard" excited considerable comment at the 1924 Academy. - Ueut.-General Taha al Hashimi. Lieut-General Taha al Hashimi, the Iraki' Defence Minister, is reported to have dealt summarily with the army ■ . officers who tried to stage a coup d'etat in Bagdad. Had he not been absent in, October, 1936, General Bekr Sidky's successful rising against the Government might have turned out differently. At that time General Taha .al Hashimi was Iraki Chief of the General Staff. As such he had attended the manoeuvres in Britain. He was in -Turkey on his way home when B£kr Sidky struck. ,^ike the other Iraki military leaders, General Taha was an officer in tbj? Turkish army. He did not join in the '< Arab revolt because during the Great War he was serving in the Yemen, ' which refused to join in the rising i against Turkish authority. ! '

He speaks English fairly well. British officers who have watched him at work in Irak s^eak well of his abilities. . He can be described as a xnan of determination.

Mr. Philip Henfly. Mr. Philip Hendy, director of Leeds Gity Art Gallery dDce 1933, has tendered his resignation. Mr. Hendy has frequently commented upon the lack of funds for the. purchase of works of art in Leeds and deplored the necessity for having to "beg, borrow, or steal" from private people for additions to the art gallery. On one occasion he described the Corporation's attitude towards art as "simply uncivilised." They apparently took the view, he said, that when they had paid a few men in uniform to stand, about th art gallery their responsibility towards art ceased. • Mr. Hendy succeeded Mr. John Rothertstein, and previously had been Curator of Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Frjwn 1923 to 1927 tie was lecturer and * assistant to the keeper of the Wallace. Collection in London. Mr. Hendy ■was the first art gallery director outside London to be appointed to the Slade Professorship of Fine Art at .Oxford University.

The late Lord Stanley had intended to visit Newfoundland after going to. Canada last summer. Then cdme his fatal illness, and there has since been talk of a visit by the Duke of Devon- i shire, the Under-Secretary for the Dominions. It was also likely that Sir Humphrey would be received br the King to discuss arrangements for the forthcoming Royal visit to St. John's. The King and Queen are to spend twelve hours there on the last day of the 'lour. Vincent Witos. Vincent Witos, exiled Polish' politician, whose return to his country was officially announced recently, is the much-respected leader of the Piast (People's) Party at Warsaw. Born in Galicia of peasant stock, Witos was Prime Minister of Poland in 1920-21 and again twice between 1923 and 1926. He has been living in Switzerland and Czecho-Slovakia on and off since 1930, when he left Poland, at the time that the chief Opposition leaders were "purged," he himself being sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, which has not since been removed, and which is the cause of his being now in prison awaiting probable pardon. In the interval the peasants have again and again declared that his pardon and return must precede any cooperation with the Government on their part. Numerous populist demonstrations also have been held to press this demand.' ! Witos is especially remembered fbr his consistent efforts obtain land for the peasants, A motion for the annual allotment of 450,000 acres of such-land for this purpose was at one time agreed to by a majority of the members of the Sejm (House of Representatives) under his influence. But this grant has since been prevented from materialising owing to financial difficulties. ■ ' ■ '

Witos was the head of a Government of the Left;which came into office in July, 1920, While he was in power Polish treaties were concluded with France, Rumania, and Soviet Russia. A plebiscite in Upper Silesia also took place: He went out of office on September 9, 1921. In 1923, • Witos was again in office on a policy of agrarian reform. He also stood for Budget balancing and extension of legislative measures in favour of labour.

The late Marshal Pilsudski, then the leading figure in Poland, was.^ riot in sympathy with this Government. On the' contrary, when it came in, the Marshal resigned an office he then held as head of the army.

"Serve under such people!" the Marshal is alleged to have exclaimed. "Never!"

Financial difficulties followed and Witos was overthrown on December 14. 1923, but not before he had founded a Ministry of Agrarian Reform to endeavour to .cope with depression among the workers.

Witos's third Cabinet was formed on May 10, 1926, without consulting Marshal Pilsudski. Serious riots occurred. Marshal Pilsudski determined upon a coup d'etat, and marched at the head of three regiments on Warsaw, where some street fighting took place, President Wojciechowski siding with Witos.

The city garrison, however, went over 'to the Marshal, and the entire Government, including both President Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Witos, were arrested as they sat at breakfast, but were subsequently released. .

A new Government was formed but internal trouble persisted. In September, 1930, Witos and a number of his friends were tried before a Court of three Judges on a charge of conspiring "to eliminate by violence the members of the Government." They were found guilty by a majority of two Judges to one. Witos was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. Others were . given terms ranging from two years to three.

Appeals against these sentences were subsequently lodged, but were rejected, the accused in the meantime being allowed to be at liberty.

When the appeals failed Witos and two others expatriated themselves. The remainder surrendered and were ultimately pardoned after serving part of their sentences.

An amnesty was announced' on December 20, 1935, when President Mo sciki was in office, and in January, 1936, the Polish gaols were emptied of some thousands of prisoners, but the sentences still nominally in force against Witos and his companions were not removed.

Witos attended in February, 1936, a gathering in Switzerland at which many of his old supporters were present. Since then, under General Edouard Smigley-Rydz, political activities in Poland have become so much less acute that official feeling against Witos's return has largely abated.

Sergi Rachmaninoff. Vice-Admiral Sir H. Walwyn. Rachmaninoff, at 65, calls himself Vice-Admiral Sir Humphrey Walan unfashionable composer and his wyn > the Governor of Newfoundland, Mtl a or nothing to s a y about his un- be"? but faltering reputation as a pianist, says the steamship in which he was returnthe "Manchester Guardian." In any ing, the Newfoundland, went to the case he takes his fame and'fame's rescue of the Ranger, a 520-ton sealing vicissitades lugubnously, conning, SV£2iJE "ol *£ though, beneath his long, slow, sad Ranger were saved,-but the incident Russian manner a most unmelancholy delayed the Newfoundland's sailing wit. He does not like the-moderns in iroTn Newfoundland by forty^lght music, and he certainly does not regard h™P' Humphrey, who has been himself as one of them. No composi- Governor since 1936, was on leave. He ■tion more modern than his was in- will take the opportunity to present a eluded in his recent British tour, about report to Mr. Mac Donald, the Colonial which he talked at his London hotel, g^f" 7' C°ndlti°nS in NewfoundBroadcasting is another of his "old- For the last live years Britain's fashioned" dislikes, but he explains, oldest colony has been governed by with gentle sorrow, that the real Commission. The terms of Sir „,.._ j. rtT , + . . .. , ~ ... . Humphrey's report may settle whether reason for this particular dislike is a the island is £ receiv J e flrst . hand at _ financial one, for he gives seventy tention from Downing Street.

urday that the Ruahine, deep laden, set off for the Old Country, and in the short space of time between her departure and 2.30 a.m. on the Monday, when she berthed again at Wellington, she had had a somewhat sensational experience.

The first intimation that anything was amiss came in the form of a brief wireless message, received at Wellington on the Sunday .morning, the day. following the ship's departure, reporting that the Ruahine was leaking badly and steering for Cape Palliser,- Soon after the message had been received a second one came in giving more accurate .information as to the Ruahine's whereabouts. It was stated that the vessel's position at 7.45 a.m. was 194 miles south, 47 miles east of Cape Palliser. Conjecture was rife in the city as. to the extent of the mishap to the liner, and many were the stories circulating. "LEAKING BADLY." Still wilder rumours went round when another message, giving . additional information, came to hand. It read: "Ship leaking badly; apparently near No. 3 'tween decks. Returning to Wellington. Advise steamer be sent at once to stand by. Steaming full speed ahead for Cape ■ Palliser. Position at 7.45 a.m., 43deg S., 178deg 27min E., when ship turned back. Getting heavy list. Will advise Wellington radio at frequent intervals." This message left no doubt as to the gravity of the situation, although anxious relatives and friends of those aboard were somewhat reassured by the fact that the ship was still capable of steaming "full speed ahead." i • Ashore, shipping officials were not slow to act. The local manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company conferred with the manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, and it was decided to send the Wahine to the assistance of the larger vessel. After her arrival in port from Lyttelton, the smoke from the Wahine's funnels had died away into lazy wisps curling slowly skyward, but soon her smokestacks were belching dense black smoke, much to the astonishment of the more observant onlookers. This astonishment turned to something akin to amazement when a few minutes before 10 a.m. the Wahine pulled out from the Queen's Wharf, swerved around in a semi-circle, and disappeared at full speed around Point HalswelL The Wahine. reported by wireless that she was making 18£ knots on her way to the Ruahine. For a long time there were no further messages, and anxious watchers ashore had to curb their patience and fears. ABOARD THE LINER. Meanwhile, aboard the Ruahine, it was discovered that there were four feet of water on one side of No. 3 'tween decks, and, owing to the ship's pronounced list, none on the other. There were twenty inches of water on the low side of No. 2 hold in the 'tween decks, and nineteen inches on her low side in No. 3 hold. The cause of the leak, its exact position, and its seriousness were not known. The Ruahine was making her way back to port at a speed of just on thirteen knots. There was no semblance of panic. She was carrying a much smaller number of passengers than usual—just over fifty all told— and it was at 8 o'clock in the morning, just as they were looking forward to breakfast, that they were first informed by'the caotain to be in readiness for emergencies. The Ruahine then had a very noticeable list to starboard, and it was increasing. The boats were swung out and the crew and passengers were told off to the positions they would occupy in the event of affairs taking a more serious turn. But, although all were cool and collected, there was a strong feeling of anxiety and those aboard were prepared for the worst. As the Ruahine swung round to return to Wellington the list increased in an alarming manner, but when she was headed on her trip back she righted herself a little. Nevertheless, her decks, were tilted over at such an angle that, walking was by no means easy. By the utmost good fortune the sea was smooth and this went a long way to minimising the danger. As soon as the liner slewed round a portion of the cargo was removed from No. 3 hold and placed on the after deck. Then, the water ballast tanks were emptied. Gradually the Ruahine swung over and leaned to port, in which position she completed her return voyage. BACK TO PORT. It was just after 3 p.m. that the Wahine appeared on the horizon, and there was great elation aboard the Ruahine. The express steamer approached at a good speed, leaving a lengthening trail of smoke behind her, and thankfulness was expressed that she had appeared on the scene so promptly.. In half an hour's time she was alongside the Ruahine, and, slowing down to accommodate her pace to

were groundless. It was discovered that an ill-fitting door of a meat port was responsible for the whole trouble.

Much of the Ruahine's cargo had to be.discharged when the ship arrived at Wellington. Thousands of crates of cheese were unloaded and much of it reconditioned and dried. A quantity of coal was also affected by, water,